Miklos Zalai

January 30, 1943 – November 18, 2012

Miki, as he was known to his family, was born in Budapest, Hungary.

In 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution, Miki and his parents escaped to the “West”. After spending several months in England they were accepted into Canada as refugees and they then settled in Grand Center, AB. It was there, that Miki met and married ‘the love of his life’ Donna Lucas. They lived for a short while in Cold Lake, AB where son Spencer was born and Miki worked as a hairdresser. 

A career change relocated the family to Edmonton, AB, Langley and Prince George, BC where Miki worked as a mechanic. In 1967, he bought a beauty salon in Fort McMurray, AB where daughters, Monica, Melissa and Jessica were born. In the early seventies, he sold the salon and became a millwright.  1979 saw the family relocate to Grand Center and in 1981 they moved to Morinville. In 1994, Miki and Donna retired to the North Shore of Nelson, BC where they built their dream home. Miki gave up power boating  to become a sailor and spent his happiest times on Kootenay Lake. The sailboat became his passion and he spent countless hours restoring it to better than original condition. Miki had a love/hate relationship with the Catspaw, he hated to work on it, but he loved to sail on it.

Although, Nelson was his little piece of paradise, in the last few years Miki also enjoyed spending his winters down south, in particular,  Lake Havasu City, AZ.

Miki  was pre-deceased by his father, Josef in 1979, and his mother, Zsofia in 1992. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Donna , son Spencer(Michelle)Zalai ,granddaughter Ashly , step-granddaughter Jaja, daughter Monica  (Dale) Scaber, grandchildren Josef, Tomas , Sara, daughter Melissa (Justin) Ritter grandson Nathan and youngest daughter Jessica (Andre Sawka) Zalai.

Prayers will be recited on Monday, November 26th, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Cathedral of Mary Immaculate, 813 Ward Street, Nelson.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 1:00pm with Father Jim Ratcliffe as celebrant.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Okanagan/Kootenay Area Office, 4-1551 Sutherland Avenue, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9M9 or a charity of one’s choice.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.thompsonfs.ca

Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of Thompson Funeral Service Ltd.