Akos St. Clair OBITUARY

Akos St. Clair OBITUARY

Akos St. Clair, a noted wood carver and long-time resident of Florence, OR, died peacefully on October 11, 2025, in Mapleton, OR, from complications of acute myeloid leukemia. He was 83. In his final days, he was lovingly cared for by his longtime friends, Sonja and Ron Thompson, and Steve Hager.

Akos was the second of four sons born to Joseph and Maria St. Clair of Scotts Valley, CA. He was named after his grandfather, Akos Szentkiralyi, a renowned sheep expert and former head of Hungary’s premier agricultural college.

Akos was born on February 16, 1942, in Clifton Forge, VA. His parents and older brother, Joe, were interned at the luxurious Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV. At the time Pearl Harbor was attacked, his father was a Hungarian official, serving the Hungarian government, attached to the Hungarian Reference Library in New York City. With the entry of the U.S into World War II, the family was interned along with Axis diplomats. Though not strictly speaking a diplomat, as aHungarian official, his father managed to get the family passage back to Europe on the same vessel with the interned Axis diplomats in exchange for American diplomats similarly interned in Europe. The family returned to Hungary to be with relatives for the duration of the war.

Akos’s first few years were turbulent ones, to say the least. As a toddler, he and his family survived continuous Allied bombing in a bomb shelter during the 50-day Siege of Budapest, followed by eking out an existence in war-ravaged Hungary. Fortunately, after the war, his father found employment at the American Legation in Budapest, which kept the family alive. However, following the Communist takeover of Hungary after the war, the family was forced to flee the purge by the Communists.

This was the beginning of the Cold War, but fortunately, Akos and his family ended up on the Monterey Peninsula in California, where his father was hired as the founding chairman of the Hungarian Department at the Army Language School (later the Defense Language Institute). His parents built their first home in Del Monte Park (later incorporated into Pacific Grove, CA). Akos and his (now three) siblings all attended and graduated from the Pacific Grove schools.

Akos was a popular student at Pacific Grove High School, and in his senior year, 1960, was elected student body vice-president. He participated in Model UN, Hi-Jinx, and the Scholarship Society. He served as a counselor at the Monterey Recreation Department’s Camp Quien Sabe. He was active in the Boy Scouts and was a member of the first patrol of the White Stag Leadership Development Program, co-founded in 1958 by his father, along with three other adult scouters who were close family friends. Since its inception, this innovative program has enabled more than 20,000 boys and girls to acquire lifelong leadership skills in a challenging outdoor environment. The White Stag curriculum was so highly regarded that it was later adapted by the U.S national Scout movement as their junior leadership training program.

After high school, Akos earned a BS degree from the University of California, Davis, and an MS in Physical Chemistry from Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. He then worked for several years on research grants for the Agricultural Chemistry and Entomology Departments at OSU. As those grants wound down, he built his dream cabin with help from his father and friends on beautiful forest land he bought in (the misnomered) Deadwood, OR, and took up wood carving, inspired by Northwest coast native art he admired.

Although he enjoyed carving, it did not generate sufficient income, and he moved to Santa Cruz, CA, where he found satisfying employment as a truck driver with the acclaimed nonprofit Grey Bears organization, picking up donations of food from local businesses and farmers that were later distributed to the needy. After a few years, he moved back to Oregon, settling in Florence, where he drove a delivery truck for Ace Hardware for many years, getting to know the local contractors, and continued to carve for friends. He also enjoyed playing tennis and would vacation in California to play in the winter. He carved the sign identifying the Club Fifteen-Love indoor tennis facility in Florence.

Akos never lost his passion for woodcarving, perfecting his skills for creating one-of-a-kind, detailed relief woodcarvings (wall hangings, bowls, and boxes), at which he excelled. His art reflected the influence of the Northwest Coast Native art traditions. After numerous visits to Washington and Vancouver Island in British Columbia, he developed a deep respect for the Native artisans he observed at work.

Like those Native artists, much of Akos’s work illustrates a deep interest in birds and other animals that surround us. His work was shown and received awards at various venues around Florence, including the Siuslaw Public Library, Celebrate Arts, Empty Bowls, and the Rhododendron Art Show. Upon retiring, he began to market his carvings at Lakeshore Myrtlewood, Florence, OR, and finally by joining the Backstreet Art Gallery Co-op, where his work (along with more than 20 other talented artists) was displayed and sold, and where he volunteered his time until his passing.

Like his parents before him, Akos was happiest in service to others. Though he lived a simple life of meager means, he shall always be remembered as a humble, soft-spoken, kind, and generous soul by all who knew him, especially longtime friends, Sonja and Ron Thompson and family of Mapleton, OR, Steve Hager of Florence, OR, Paul and Karen Caplinger of Battleground, WA, and Terry Roelof of Arcata, CA.

Akos is predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Maria, and his older brother, Joseph Jr. He is survived by his brothers George and Robert (Julie), both of Scotts Valley, sister-in-law Florence Martin of Costa Mesa, CA, niece Melissa (Brett) of Waxhaw, NC, and nephews Thomas (Brieanna) of San Anselmo, CA, and Laurent (Valerie) of La Rochelle, France.

Remembrances may be made to the Siuslaw Public Library and Peacehealth Hospice of Florence, OR; Radio KLCC, Eugene, OR, and Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, OR.