John Stubits, remained true to his Hungarian heritage, passed away due to COVID-19 complications – Detroit Free Press

John Stubits in 2014(Photo: Eva Stubits)

This obituary is part of We Will Remember, a series about those weve lost to the coronavirus.

John Stubits, 96, of Farmington Hills was president of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters Federation of Detroit for more than 50 years and who fluently spoke Hungarian, English, Portuguese and Spanish passed away April 24 due to COVID-19 complications.

He was born in Hungary, where he earned two engineering degrees, worked as a mining engineer in Budapest and participated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Stubits emigrated to the United States with his wife and two daughters as a political refugee and worked as a surveyor while obtaining a third engineering degree in civil engineering from Wayne State University and subsequently worked as a civil engineer for Ford Motor Company.

John and Emilia Stubits in the late 1950s.(Photo: submitted by Eva Stubits)

Stubits loved to play cards, go to the beach, recite Hungarian poetry and playing tennis and Ping-Pong with his wife, Emilia, who subsequently became a Michigan doubles table tennis champion. She passed away eight years ago.

Stubits was sent to Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield on March 30, where he tested positive for the virus. After briefly improving, the hospital searched for somewhere to discharge him to, according to his daughter, Eva Stubits. His previous residence would not accept him back unless he tested negative for the infection, which was the case for manynursing homes in the state at the time. His health deterioratedand his daughter finally found a nursing home in Livingston County that would take him. He passed away two days later.

John Stubits with daughter Eva Stubits(Photo: submitted by Eva Stubits)

He was a man who loved life, according to his daughter and is survived by his daughters Dr. va (Clifton Gallagher) Stubits and Emmy (Ray) Peck; grandchildren Katalin Stubits-Gallagher, Ray Peck III, and Laura Eklov; great grandchildren Ray Peck IV, Adam Eklov, Julia Eklov, Esther Kim and Edwin Kim; sister Ilona Lukcs.

Memorial tributes are suggested to the Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church in Detroit.

If you have a family member or close friend who has died from COVID-19 and you would like to share their story, go to bit.ly/freep-will-remember.

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John Stubits, remained true to his Hungarian heritage, passed away due to COVID-19 complications - Detroit Free Press