Celebration of Life – Lou Homa
Celebration of Life – Lou Homa
Celebration of Life – Lou Homa
Passed away March 12, 2019
Louis Joseph Homa was born March 26, 1934 in Budapest, Hungary. You can tell by that date that Lou fell just short of his 85th Birthday. He had been telling me (Dave Serfling) for several weeks he was going to bring a REALLY GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE for his birthday. Lou was a great host and cook. He invited me, Jimmi and Carolyn F. over to his house for a home cooked dinner a while back, so I knew to be ready for something special. He was a special guy and did nice things for us over the years like bringing me chocolate covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii and he helped me with some of the Barn remodeling projects. He was known as “Poppa Louie” to his family
Lou spent six months in a bomb shelter (about 1942) when he was about 8 years old after the building they lived in was struck by a bomb. Because of this, he missed a year of school and his class had to repeat that year.
Lou attended school in Budapest and eventually joined the Hungarian military. He was the personal driver for one of the Hungarian Generals and in 1956, when the Russian tanks were getting ready to invade Hungary, the General gave him a tip that something was going to happen and advised Lou to leave if he got the chance. Lou was able to escape with two other buddies, crawling on the ground and avoiding detection by the military guards, into Austria where the Austrians had set up a refugee camp. This is where he spent the next six months. In December of 1956, the United States sent some planes to Austria to evacuate the Hungarian refugees. Lou was able to get aboard and arrived in New Jersey on 12/31/56 where they were given a few dollars and then taken to Times Square for New Year’s Eve. WELCOME TO THE USA LOU!
He eventually wound up in the Chicago area where he met his wife, Arlene, who predeceased him in 2006. They eventually moved out to Seattle because Lou loved to ski and fish and heard this was a great area for both. During his working years here, he was transferred to Honolulu for four years where he fell in love with the Hawaiian Islands and returned there many times after moving back to the States.
He retired several years ago from a career in property management and continued to reside in Renton, Wa. He is survived by:
- His son Jim, daughter-in-law Robyn, grandchildren Joe and Danielle
- His daughter Christy Cartwright, son-in-law Jeff, grandchildren Ashley and Brooke
- A sister in Budapest and several cousins.
Carolyn F. and Lou became very good friends and she knew more about him than the rest of us Barn Friends. So I asked her to write a little bit more for me.
“I met Lou at the Barn in January 2008. It was his first time there and he came with his friend Mike. I think he had gotten some flyer or some type of notice about the Barn through the mail so they decided to come and check it out and meet some ladies. With his gift of gab, he convinced me that he would return to the Barn the next Friday and we would get to know each other better and then go out for dinner. I could tell right away he was a very kind man. As you know, he loved to dance Waltzes and Swing but would never take a lesson to learn how to dance.
He/we also went to the Kent Senior Center once a month for the big band music that he loved so much, especially the 30’s and 40’s. He looked forward to going to the Barn every week and loved to talk with everyone. He enjoyed entertaining and cooking up his favorite Hungarian recipes for family and friends. He told me not long ago that he really missed his skiing. He had many happy times here on the slopes and he and a buddy used to take a bunch of women after they got off work from the phone company up to Snoqualmie for night skiing. He loved this country and the weather out here in the Pacific Northwest and was so happy they had made the move to come out to this area.” Carolyn F.
Please leave a message or share a memory with his family and friends below.
May he rest in peace. I looked forward to seeing Lou at the barn and Kent as much as I did dancing with the ladies. I met Lou at the barn one Friday when I sat next to him. I was new at the barn, but Lou talked with me as if we had known each other for years. He told me of his experiences. Introduced me to his friends as they came over to say hello. He made sure I was aware of the King of Swings at Kent and that is where I had to go the first Tuesday of every month. We had a great talks through the years. I will miss my friend
What can I say about Lou,you said it all Dave. But when I started danceing Lou came over and shook my hand and we talked. There was not a week that went by that we shook hands, I will miss him..
Lou loved to dance and loved people. He will be missed so much by everyone!
I was about to phone Louie since we haven’t spoken for about a year, The number I have is no longer in service so immediately I went to Google and typed in his name, the first item that came up is Lou’s obituary.
Around 1967 my wife came home from shopping and said , I met this very nice Hungarian man at the supermarket and he would like to meet with you. Soon after a day or two Lou and I met and became friends. We spent our Christmas together in our home in Ledroit Place in west Seattle. Jim was just a few months old and our son Attila a few months old. They were playing in our living room under the Christmas tree. We spent a few years together, hanging around Alki Beach, going fishing and I can say we were inseparable. They moved to Hawaii and when they came back I picked them up at SEATAC airport. In 1973 we moved to Toronto but Lou and I were life long friends. If any one will read this and can contact his son Jim, please convey our deepest sympathy to him and his entire family. Good bye my dear friend, we will meet again. Peter