-
July 12, 2018
Benedictine Father Pius Horvath died June 23 in the Benedictine monastery of Woodside Priory in Portola Valley.
Father Pius, who celebrated his 65th year as a priest on June 21, was 88 years old.
Born in Hungary, he lived his early years in the challenging time surrounding World War II. He was ordained to the priesthood at the monastery of Pannonhalma in his beloved Hungary in 1953.
The Hungarian uprising of 1956 afforded Father Pius the opportunity to escape the religious suppression of the Communist government. In a journey by night he crossed the border into Austria and later went to Fribourg where he studied and mastered French and German.
In 1960 he came to the United States and Woodside Priory where other Hungarians who had escaped had established a Benedictine monastery and school. Father Pius began his long teaching career at the Priory as Latin and German teacher and head of the language department. “As a teacher he was known for his wit and subtle humor and was loved by students and faculty alike throughout his long career in the classroom,” the Benedictines said.
Father Pius also provided weekend assistance in many parishes in the archdiocese and is especially remembered at St. Denis, Menlo Park and Our Lady of the Wayside, Portola Valley.
A funeral Mass was celebrated June 30 in Woodside Priory Chapel. He will be interred in the village of Isza in present day Slovakia where his parents are buried.
Remembrances may be made to the Woodside Priory community in care of Father Martin J. Mager, OSB, 302 Portola Road, Portola Valley 94028.