First Generation
1. 
Gyözö "Viktor" BERECZ1,2 was born on 13 August 1881 in Ostffyasszonyfa, Vas m, HUN.3,4,5 He was born at 8 PM on a Saturday according to his mother's hymnal notation. His birth/baptismal record from the Csönge Evangelical Church gives his name only as Gyözö. But both his mother's notation and the later family information (értesités) document give it as Gyözö Viktor ("gyözö" literally means "victor" in Hungarian). He was baptized on August 21, and among his godparents were his aunt Ilka Berecz and her husband Sándor Benko. He died on 9 September 1940 at the age of 59 in Norwalk, CT.6 He died of stomach cancer, though in 1918 his doctor had given him six months to live due to a heart ailment. His son believed that the depression resulting from that diagnosis was the cause of his alcoholism in later life. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery on September 12. He was educated as a land surveyor. When his education and military obligation were complete, he took his "inheritance" and emigrated to the US aboard the steamship "Chemnitz", departing Bremen on 17 Nov 1906 and arriving in New York on 01 Dec. In the United States, he lost his money in the stock market crash of 1907-8. After some difficult times he decided to return to Hungary. At the time of his marriage, he listed his occupation as "gazdasági felügyelö" or property manager. After his marriage, he emigrated again to the US with his wife aboard the SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie from Bremen, arriving in New York on 05 Oct 1909.
In America, he began to use the English spelling of his name -- Victor. He worked for Child's and other NYC restaurants as a head waiter, was a leader of various Hungarian-American societies, did translations, was active in Republican politics, fancied himself a publisher (his only publications were his own books, notably "Szót Kérek" which was intended to help Hungarian immigrants prepare for US citizenship). In the 1920 census, he listed his occupation as a machinist in a factory and the family lived on First Avenue. In 1930, the family rented an apartment on East 115th Street where they paid $28/month rent. At that time, he claimed to be a "writer" for a "publishing house." In his later years, he worked as a building superintendent and an official of the Building Superintendent's Union. He became a U.S. citizen in 1927. He returned to Hungary only once more, a long visit in 1934-5.