IN MEMORY OF JUDIT MAKÓ
Judit Makó was a close friend and companion to János Sebestyén for 39 years. She was a school teacher in her early days and later taught the Hungarian language to the wives of foreign ambassadors in Budapest. She was also on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
I met Judit during my first trip to Hungary in September 2000. An invitation to dinner at her home proved to be one of the most memorable evenings of my visit. In addition to János, the guests included his former student Miklós Spányi, retired Swiss ambassador Paul Wipfli and his wife Irma. Judit was kind enough to share stories about her life and experiences growing up in Budapest during the war. It was a remarkable evening and I remember thinking to myself how lucky I was to be in the company of such interesting people. Near the end of my stay in Budapest, Judit told me that she felt we were already old friends. My feelings were the same. Judit simply had a way of making me feel welcome and comfortable. Her warm personality and sincere interest in those around her made it impossible not to like her immediately.
I always looked forward to spending some time with Judit and János on my subsequent visits to Budapest. We went on walking excursions in the hills above Buda, attended concerts, visited parks and enjoyed meals together. I last saw her in November 2003. She appeared as happy and healthy as ever. Judit passed away on May 24, 2004 after a short but difficult battle with cancer. She was a special person who will always have a place in my heart. I know that her hundreds of friends around the world feel exactly the same way.
Both of these beautiful photographs of Judit were taken by János at Lake Balaton. I took the small photo of Judit and János while on one of our walking excursions during a visit to Budapest in October 2001.
Robert Tifft
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