What a life: Hungarian immigrant who settled in Mansfield reflects on 60-year career

Zoltan the Magnificent is hanging it up.

That's the nickname his company, Wabtec, formerly Ohio Brass, used to announce the retirement of Zoltan Kovacs after 60 years, making him the longest-tenured employee in the company's history.

But the 87-year-old Kovacs is so much more than a loyal company man. The Mansfield resident came here from Hungary, where he grew up during World War II. He later became a freedom fighter in the Hungarian Revolution.

After seeking asylum, Kovacs eventually settled in Mansfield, where he raised a family.

"I grew up during the Second World War," he said. "We didn't play with toy guns. We played with real guns because everybody threw them away."

Even after the war, life didn't get much better for the people of Hungary.

"We didn't have food, nothing," Kovacs said. "We didn't have anything to heat our homes. It was just after the war; everything was destroyed."

He said he identifies with Ukraine, now entering its third year of a war with Russia.

Kovacs fought against Communist rule

As a young man, Kovacs knew he had to do something to help his country. In 1956, he participated as a freedom fighter in the short-lived Hungarian Revolution, a populist uprising against Communist rule.

The uprising lasted 12 days before the Soviets crushed any hopes of freedom. Thousands were killed or wounded and nearly 250,000 Hungarians fled the country.

Kovacs was one of them.

"Many of the Hungarian freedom fighters had to leave the country," he said. "We were blacklisted because of our participation."

Those who didn't escape were often sent to jail or a concentration camp — or worse.

Kovacs escaped and sought asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Vienna, Austria. His request was granted, and he arrived in the United States on Feb. 28, 1957.

Kovacs remembers it was 2 p.m.

He acquired a white card and applied for a green card after one year. Immigrants who had not committed a crime in that time frame were eligible to apply.

After five years, Kovacs attained citizenship in 1962. He had planned to take a job in New Jersey before deciding to come to Mansfield, where his brother had settled.

Mansfield was a city bustling with industry

"We had all kinds of industry here, all kinds of possibilities," Kovacs remembered.

Mansfield boasted Westinghouse, the Tappan Co. and Ohio Brass, among other major employers.

Kovacs considered working at the fledgling General Motors plant before an uncle suggested he work at a tool and machine shop.

Kovacs never regretted the decision.

"I was able to learn and get acquainted with the ways of American manufacturing," he said. "Six or seven years later, there was an opening at Ohio Brass."

An engineer at heart, Kovacs, before he came to the United States, worked as a tool-and-die maker at one of the largest locomotive and freight-car manufacturers in Europe.

Ohio Brass was one of the largest of Mansfield's factories.

"At Ohio Brass, I worked as a lab technician and an assistant development engineer before being promoted to run the company's development lab and services. This role meant that I had a hand in designing or co-designing everything we manufactured from that time on," Kovacs said. "I loved the variety of the work, and the opportunity to work with the best of the best, a tradition I feel very fortunate to have carried on at Wabtec."

Kovacs stayed with company when Ohio Brass was sold

Ohio Brass was sold in 1990, but Kovacs never left.

He joined Wabtec, one of the world's leading manufacturers in the rail industry, in the early 1990s when the company became independent of American Standard via a management buyout and a series of acquisitions that included Ohio Brass.

Wabtec has headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kovacs quickly made his mark as a sales and services manager, building on the strong relationships he had fostered with railcar builders and transit authorities. He later was promoted to regional manager.

"We still sell and design products developed in Ohio," Kovacs said.

Kovacs has lasted as long as those products.

For his part, Kovacs didn't realize the time would go so fast.

"I was a productive member of that company. That's why they kept me around," he said. "I'm not a spring chicken anymore."

Colleagues laud Kovacs

Kevin Masterson is the vice president of business development for Wabtec.

"For his long tenure and his experience, Zoli (Kovacs) remains one of the most humble people you will ever meet," he said.

Pascal Schweitzer, group president of Transit, echoed those sentiments.

"Zoltan's commitment to our customers and his community is the very embodiment of People First," he said. "His legacy of humility, respect and understanding for others will live on in his colleagues and this company."

Simon Charlesworth, group vice president of sales and marketing for Transit, added he is "lucky and proud" to have worked with the man they call Zoli.

Ohio Brass isn't the only reason Kovacs has stayed in Mansfield for so long. The south-side resident met his wife, Helga, at a travel agency. Someone at the agency helped immigrants.

Helga, from Austria, arrived here before Kovacs. He recalls the first time he saw her.

"She swept me off my feet," he said of the woman who became his wife in 1959. "Bless her soul. She was a wonderful woman."

Helga Kovacs died in 1995, from cancer.

The couple had two sons and a daughter. While Kovacs doesn't have many definite plans for retirement, he does want to visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom live in Colorado.

Kovacs, who also worked at Snow Trails, Mansfield's ski resort, laments he won't be able to ski in Colorado because of knee problems.

He's always been active and became involved in martial arts. In fact, he taught judo at the Mansfield YMCA and self-defense to local law enforcement.

Kovacs, who does not look or sound anywhere close to 87, is looking forward to what's next.

"I've been very lucky," he said.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

X: @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Hungarian immigrant to Mansfield OH reflects on long life, career