Feb. 24, 1925 – March 6, 2011

George Gyorgyfalvy, age 86, died on Sunday, March 6, 2011, at his home in Bend, Oregon. He lost a short but intensely fought battle with acute myelogenous leukemia.

George lived a very daring and extraordinary life on two continents. He was born February 24, 1925, in Bocsa, Hungary, the first of two sons of Dezso and Laura Gyorgyfalvy. The classic secondary education he received at Esztergom Gymnasium on the banks of the Danube River, profoundly shaped his passion for learning and teaching. His competitive spirit, athletic prowess and intense interest in sports lead to a life-long career in physical education.

George served in the Hungarian Army in World War II and saw action in the closing months of the war in defense of his homeland against the invading Russian forces. After the war, he earned a college degree from a physical education academy in Budapest before an unfortunate set of circumstances lead to being imprisoned in a grueling communist-run political prisoner Gulag labor camp for three years in the early 1950s.

After making his last of many death-defying crossings of the Iron Curtain by the mid-1950s, he immigrated to the United States in 1957, to reunite with his parents and brother, and to begin a new life in a new country. His first order of business was to earn a masters of physical education degree from the University of Colorado in 1960. After a season of ski instructing in Aspen, Colorado, he secured a physical education teaching position with Everett Junior College in Washington for six years. In 1967, he landed his final teaching position at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, where he taught such courses as soccer, gymnastics, weight lifting, conditioning, skiing, and kayaking as well as coached many years for the competitive gymnastics and soccer programs. His tenure at Lane Community College ended with retirement in 1988.

In 1990, he relocated to Bend, Oregon, where he truly lived out his golden years as an avid skier at Mt. Bachelor, frequent kayaker on the Deschutes River and High Cascade Lakes, ambitious hiker of numerous Cascade mountain tops, and recurring traveler to the Austrian Alps and his homeland of Hungary. Even in his retirement years, he relished any opportunity to teach acquaintances, friends, or family about his favorite sports or physical activities.

His passions were many. He lived life with an uncommon abundance of enthusiasm. And many lives were inspired by his indelible spirit.

George was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Dezso, and his second wife, Carol. He is survived by his first wife, Annamaria and his daughter, Zsuzso of Budapest, Hungary, and his son, Martin of Bend.

A viewing will take place at Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home, 105 NW Irving Ave., Bend, OR. (541-382-2471) on March 25, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon followed by a graveside service at 1:00 p.m. at Greenwood Cemetery, followed by a memorial luncheon. Please sign our guest book at www.niswonger-reynold.com

In lieu of flowers, contributions in George’s name may be made to Humane Society of Central Oregon, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation, or Partners In Care Hospice.