Obituary of Béla Anka

Béla Anka passed away peacefully on January 1, 2024, with the comfort of his family by his side.

Born in Tiszakécske, Hungary on December 16, 1936, he was the son of the late Béla and Erzsébet Anka; and predeceased by his brother Vincent and sister Erszél. In 1956 during The Hungarian Revolution, Béla fled Hungary, he literally ran for his life. He headed for the shortest plane line and arrived in the United States. Béla was sponsored by a family through the Red Cross and lived in Fairfield, Connecticut. Béla met the love of his life, Nancy Sansone, they got married, settled down in Fairfield and started their family.

Béla worked for Acme Shears, Bullards and Handy and Harman. He worked for Sturm Ruger for 24 years until he retired. Upon his retirement from Sturm Ruger he started a construction business with his son Béla, called: Béla Anka and Son Construction.

Béla enjoyed many hobbies including building gas powered radio controlled boats and planes. He was an avid outdoorsman enjoying fishing, camping, skeet shooting, sailing, and ping pong. Béla also took great pride in his garden and loved sharing his fruits and vegetables with his family and friends. Béla was someone who could fix just about anything and was always willing to help a friend or neighbor, it could be building a new deck or fixing your car, you could count on him to lend a hand. He was a natural born teacher as well, whether it be teaching his children a trade or teaching his grandchildren how to fish. Béla was what can only be described as a jokester, to be in his presence was to laugh and smile. Speaking of smiles, Béla always had the most heartwarming smile on his face, a smile hard to forget.

Béla took great pride in working to become an American citizen and loved this country with his whole heart and soul. He was so thankful for his freedom. He flew the American flag daily with pride. Béla took great pride in instilling his core values and in teaching his children and grandchildren to work hard, appreciate what they have and to not take their freedom for granted.

Béla is survived by his loving wife Nancy, of 61 years. His beloved children; daughter Nancy and her husband Phil Steinborn and their two sons, Ryan and Erik; his son Vincent; his daughter Palma and her husband Mike DeSorbo; and his son, Béla, his wife, Jennifer and their four daughters Emily, Allison, Abigail and Ellie Anka. He is also survived by his beloved nieces, Pálma Papné and Ágnes Török and their families who reside in Hungary.

Friends and family may pay their respects on Saturday, January 13th at the Lesko Funeral Home, 1209 Post Road, Fairfield Center from 9-11:30 am, services will take place at 11:30am. For travel directions or to sign his online guest register, please visit, www.LeskoFuneralHome.com.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Red Cross, www.redcross.org.