Submitted by:  Nadine A. Hardin

Name in Obituary:  Wendell S. Lukacs

Names Mentioned:  Lukacs, Szabo, Ewald, Peltz, Slutsky

South Bend Tribune, March 09, 1995.

“Hungarian Hour Host, Wendell Lukacs, Dies”

SOUTH BEND – Wendell Lukacs, longtime host of the Hungarian Hour radio show on WSBT-AM, died this morning in his home. He was 86.

According to Charles Hurley, deputy coroner, Mr. Lukacs died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hurley ruled the death a suicide.

Mr. Lukcas and his wife, Julia, had been involved in the Hungarian Hour radio show for 63 years. He and his wife retired from the show about a year ago. The show was mainly Hungarian folk music and traditional tunes. Many of the selections came from Mr. Lukacs’ extensive catalogued record collection.

When the Lukacses first became involved in the radio show, the broadcast incorporated a live band and church choirs in a large studio on the third floor of The Tribune. The show has several hosts until the couple assumed the job in the 1960s.

The radio show was full of neighborhood news and requests for special songs for family anniversaries and birthdays. The show was followed closely by the Hungarian community as a way to maintain ties.

Their home also reflected their background. It was full of Hungarian collectibles and statues.

The couple was honored in 1993 by Foreign Languages Alive in Michiana Education (FLAME) for their work in maintaining the richness of ethnic diversity and foreign languages in the area.

Mr. Lukacs was born in the United States but moved to Hungary and remained there until 1929 before returning to America.

He worked at Studebaker Corp. and the South Bend Medical Foundation.

The couple met in church of St. Stephen Catholic Church. During a 1993 interview, Mrs. Lucas said her mother wanted her to meet the charming young Hungarian. They were married for 60 years.

Zahoran Funeral Home will be in charge of arrangements.

South Bend Tribune, St. Joseph County Deaths; March 10, 1995.

Wendell S. Lukas (Sept. 11, 1908 – March 9, 1995).

SOUTH BEND – Services for Wendell S. Lukacs, 86, of West Indiana Avenue, who died about 8:30 a.m. Thursday in his home, will be at 10 a.m. Monday in Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church. The death has been ruled a suicide by deputy coroner Charles Hurley. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday in Zahoran Funeral Home, where a rosary will be said at 3 p.m. by Sacred Heart and Rosary Society, Harvest Home, St. Ann Society and St. Anthony Society Auxiliary. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Stephens’s Catholic Church, Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church or the Agnes and Sam Slutsky Library Fund of Temple Beth-El.

Mr. Lukas was a former employee of the Studebaker Corp. and South Bend Medical Foundation and was co-host of WSBT Hungarian Hour radio show for 63 years. He was born Sept. 11, 1908, in Tiltonsville, Ohio, and lived in South Bend since 1929. On Oct. 19, 1935, in South Bend, he married Julia E. Szabo. She survies with three nieces, Katherine Ewald, Irene Horvath and Lila Peltz, all of South Bend; a nephew, Harold Slutsky of South Bend; six grand-nieces and nephews; and eight great-nieces and nephews. He was a former vice president of William Penn Association, a former trustee of Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and a Veteran of World War II.

Note: an identical obituary was printed on March 11, 1995.