Antal Jeno TONY Csukai (15 Jan 1935 - 3 Jan 2021)

CSUKAI
Antal Jeno
“Tony”
On 3rd January 2021, suddenly but peacefully, at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Tony of Mirfield, aged 85 years, beloved husband of the late Vera, loving dad of Diane and Michael, dear father-in-law of Katrina and cherished grandad of Alec and Andrew and remembered with love by David.
Due to the current guidelines a service by invitation only will take place at Christ The King Church, Battyeford on Friday 22nd January 2021 at 2pm followed by committal at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium.
Family flowers only please donations in lieu may be made online or sent to George Brooke Ltd for the benefit of Barnado’s. The funeral service will be live-streamed on Christ the King’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Christ-the-King-Battyeford-225848694172989

As most of you know Tony was originally from Hungary. He used to tell his children of his exploits during the war in an occupied country, including taking ‘bits’ of an American plane that had come down in the marshes, and talking to his Jewish friends through the barbed wire of the Ghetto.

They didn’t go hungry though, as his father, a tailor asked local farmers to pay him in food, and Tony was sent out of the city to a family farm when the bombing got too bad.

He was a member of the local swimming team, and has medals and a photo to show for it, although he said, “I always came second, there was one lad who was better than me”. He was in trouble once for swimming the Danube in spate for a bet, his mum beat him with the carpet beater. He wrestled as well, again he had medals, and a broken shoulder that always told him when the weather was changing.

Before he left Hungary, his father died, Tony was only 17, he always said that he died a broken man, because when the Russians took over, he had to give them his businesses and his flats, and pay rent for both his premises and the flat they lived in. He’d worked hard all his life for what he had, obviously a work ethic passed on to Tony.

He came to Britain in 1956, after fighting in the Uprising. He had been doing his National Service, and when they were losing their commander told them to ’get out’. He went first to a refugee camp in Austria and then to England, “We were bored and had nothing to do, so we thought we might as well go”. His objective was Canada, but he was recruited to work in a factory in Crook, Co Durham because the owner wanted someone who could work with the metric machinery. He did this temporarily…….for 18 years, then the factory closed down.

He met his beloved Vera at a dance in Crook at the end of September 1959 and they were married by March 1960. They were dedicated to each other for the rest of their lives, even after she died he loved her unconditionally and missed her more than words can tell. He always kept fresh flowers and candles next to her photo in the living room, and although he said he didn’t talk to the photo, he talked about her all the time.

In 1964 and then in 1966, their children were born and in 1968 Tony became a British Citizen, but not before being interrogated for a long period by government agents to ensure he wasn’t a spy! After that life settled down and Tony and Vera were happy and worked hard, taking their family holidays to visit Tony’s family in Hungary every second year. Life was good. They had many friends, and Tony was ‘adopted’ by his mother and father-in-law who spent many weekends at their house allowing Tony and Vera to partake in their joint love, dancing! The house was always filled with music, laughter and love. There were disagreements of course but who doesn’t disagree?

In 1978 Tony was made redundant, and after being ‘head hunted’ for a job in Huddersfield, (he was a talented and knowledgeable engineer), the whole family moved there, albeit reluctantly. After an initial settling in period, friends were made and life resumed, as normal.

Tony and Vera’s house was often filled with people of all ages, all of whom were ‘fed and watered’, though water wasn’t often the main tipple; they enjoyed entertaining and being entertained, and above all still danced. They also started to go on many foreign holidays when the children grew up, which they enjoyed to the utmost. They lived life to the fullest that they could, and were happy.

Even after Vera died Tony maintained an active social life, taking part in several groups and clubs, The Men’s Probus, The Over 50s Club, U3A Lunch Clubs and had a group of ladies he went out with, starting from when he used to give them lifts. They were good company for him, and he for them, and we used to laughingly call them his Harem. He was not even remotely interested in replacing Vera though!

He also began going to church regularly on a Wednesday morning and began taking part in church social events. It was only Covid 19 that clipped his wings a bit in 2020, as all the clubs and groups were suspended. He remained active and independent to the end and had planned to drive to his son’s house for Christmas.

A truly bright light has been extinguished and we hope that he is now back with his beloved wife, Vera.