The Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) is saddened to report the passing of Laszlo Pomazi on February 18. He was 84.

Laszlo Pomazi was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937. At 19 years old, he was a freedom fighter against the Soviet Union in the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. He escaped to Salzburg, Austria, where he spent time in a Red Cross refugee camp.

He arrived in Portland, Oregon as a refugee and began working for Pete McCoy at McCoy’s Nursery in Sandy, Oregon. Seven years later, Pomazi married Pete’s daughter, Janet, and gained his American citizenship in 1964. He started his own business, Pomazi Nursery, soon after.

Laszlo was a longtime active member of Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church in Fairview, Oregon, where he served as an elder and a deacon. Laszlo is survived by his wife Janet, his brothers Joseph and Ference, his sons Rob (Leesa) and John (Barb), and five grandchildren.