Goodbye to Aggie

I just had to share Aggie's obit.

Agnes Mihalik, born June 5, 1955, Miskolc, Hungary, died July 31, 2007 at Berkeley,
California. Agnes Mihalik was a teacher, a writer, a dancer, a music lover, a culinary artist, and devoted mother. In her short life, she mastered 3 languages: French, English and her native Hungarian. She received an M.A. in English and French from Lajos Kossuth University in Debrecen, Hungary. In her native country, she taught English at the University of Economics in Budapest from 1979 to 1981. At the same time, she was teaching English literature and language at Miklos Radnoti High School. She also taught Hungarian as a second language to foreign students. It was in this program that she met her first husband, Jay Stebley, who brought her to the Bay Area in 1981.
Ms. Mihalik became a lecturer in the Slavic Languages Department of UC Berkeley in 1982, a position she held until her death. There, she developed and administered the Hungarian Language and Cultural Studies Program. She is lovingly remembered by her students, not only for her knowledge, generosity and creative teaching methods, but for the parties she would throw for them at the end of each term, at which she would serve her delicious home made Hungarian delicacies.
While teaching at UC Berkeley, Ms. Mihalik also received an M.A. in Education, producing essays and an impressive thesis, flawlessly written in a language that was not her native tongue. She went on to organize and conduct a series of workshops on teaching English as a Second Language at the School of Education at UC Berkeley.
Writing was a favorite pastime of Ms. Mihalik's, and those recipients of her witty cards and letters cherish them. She was also a dedicated diarist and voracious reader who loved literature and poetry in all three of the languages she was at home in. She also kept up online correspondence with her many friends in France, Hungary, Canada, and around the United States.
A keen appreciation for dance and music led Ms. Mihalik to the Shawl Anderson Dance Center, where she studied modern dance. Among her teachers was Reginald Ray-Savage, founder of the Savage Jazz Dance Company. Her interest in dance led her to attain a Certificate in Dance/Movement Therapy from California State University in Hayward. She put this to good use in her work with geriatric citizens, through the Oakland Unified School District, Pleasant Valley Adult School. For the last twelve years of her life, Ms. Mihalik taught Creative Movement and Communication Skills to participants in their Frail Older Adult division, in Oakland adult day centers, as well as at nursing homes and rehab centers. Her humor and vitality managed to coax out a spark of life from many patients who had not responded to other stimuli.
The daughter and granddaughter of bakers, Ms. Mihalik was a gifted and prolific cook and baker. Many a friend was the recipient of a grand wedding or birthday cake, or delicious pastry. At one time, after making 200 Hungarian rolls for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, Ms. Mihalik had considered renting time at a commercial kitchen and opening a catering business. One of her most memorable creations was a cake in the shape of the Parthenon for an event at her daughter's school.
As frequently as she could, usually every other year, Ms. Mihalik would take her daughter on a summer trip to friends in France and Hungary, to immerse her in European, and in particular, Hungarian life and culture. Foremost in her life accomplishments, Ms. Mihalik counted that daughter, Mahlika, now 11, the child of her second marriage, to Joseph Al Fresco.
This catalogue of degrees and talents, however, cannot begin to describe the vibrant, generous and brilliant spirit that was Agnes Mihalik. She touched the lives of hundreds of people through her work and friendship. She was truly supremely interested in everyone she met, and made you feel as though you had known her always, that she was your best friend, or sister. At a memorial held in Budapest in August, one of her compatriots said that she was "the most loveable person you could ever know."
There will be a celebration of Ms. Mihalik's life at the UC Berkeley campus, Tuesday, November 6, 2007, from 5 - 7 p.m. in the Great Room of the Faculty Club, which is open to the public. (Stanford University will also host a memorial on Monday, November 12, 2007 at noon, in Building 240, Room 201.)

Here is it in the Chronicle;
http://www.legacy.com/SFGate/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=96863496

This is a "open letter" to Aggie a friend of hers' wrote "wherever she is". It had me in tears!

Dear Agi,
I hope you enjoyed the memorial service we held in your honor on Tuesday night at the Faculty Club. In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights:
Frances and Rachel played their hearts out, performing some of your favorite Hungarian songs on the piano and violin.
Mahlika was beautiful, as usual, surrounded by her Black Pine Circle friends, and with her big sister Kaya, who had come specially from Santa Barbara, at her side.
Parker flew in from New York to be there to honor you.
The Great Room was packed, and the speeches were many, full of the joy of remembering you. Julie spoke, with tears on her cheeks, of how you had also helped raise her daughter, Kaya, and the many kindnesses you had shown her. Sirpa spoke charmingly of her years as your office mate in the two woman Finno-Ugrek Department.
There was a butterfly motif running throught the evening. Tomas described a butterfly escaping from his cellar, teetering on the window sill, and then taking off, climbing above the trees, and he thought of you, free of all the cares and pain down here, soaring free. Frances asked Mahlika to remember something that you said in your last conversation with her: that you would not be able to come to her 8th grade graduation, but you would make some appearance, maybe as a butterfly. Earlier in the day, when I bought the brightest bouquet I could muster in November, of magenta sweet williams, purple striped lisanthius and variecolored roses, I had my eye on a delicate fabric butterfly, which the florist, without a word from me, plucked and poised above the flowers, declaring it the perfect final touch.
One of the celebrants, whom I don't know, spoke in Hungarian. There was no translation, but it was fitting, because she spoke with such emotion, and it was your native tongue, the only word of which I ever learned was kishlanyu(sp!), which I think means sweetheart, because you always called Mahlika that, or in the alternative, in English, "my little sweetie."
Zahwa gave an amazing tribute to you, that brought you back to life for all of us: elegant, witty, generous, earthy and brilliant. She quoted the poet, Khalil Gibran, and called on all of our deities to bless you and lead you to dwell in Heaven.
I am thankful for the gift of your life, Agi, which was far too short, but oh, so full, and touched so many people in a positive way.
Love forever,
Pat, Ted and Parker

I'm sorry I missed it but I'm so glad it went well. She deserved it!