Árpád Michael Mihály

Árpád Michael Mihály, former long-time Ripon area resident, passed away in Santa Rosa, CA, on April 18, 2025, at the age of 89.

Better known here as Mike, he was born at home to Dénes and Anna (Balázs) Mihály in the tiny town of Lövéte in eastern Transylvania (Romania) on March 28, 1936, a brother to Márta. The family later grew to include two younger brothers, Csaba and Attila. They remained in Transylvania until forced to flee following WWII due to the discrimination against ethnic Hungarians under the Romanian regime, settling north of Budapest on the edge of the forest where his father worked as the forester.

Following high school, he began his university training at the School of Forestry in Sopron, Hungary. Within the first month, university students across Hungary rose up to lead the protest against Soviet occupation. He quickly returned to Budapest to become a Freedom Fighter in what was the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. When the Soviets crushed the attempt to regain their country, Mike was forced to flee once again, reuniting in Austria with the students and faculty of the Forestry School, including his sister and brother-in-law, who had fled several weeks earlier. Eventually, the group of several hundred made their way to Canada to become the Sopron Division of the University of British Columbia.

However, without financial resources nor English language skills, Mike left the group to work in a gold mine in northern B.C. for 2 1/2 years. By then he had saved enough to consider continuing his education, and through a series of fortuitous encounters, he arrived in San Francisco to attend City College in its well-known culinary program. He was later able to transfer to Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration where he received his degree in 1967.

While working as a manager for Saga Food Service at Wheaton College (IL), he met Dorothy “Penny” Smith on a blind date; they were married on December 30, 1967. Two years later a Saga promotion initially brought Mike to Ripon College. After taking a leave of absence from Saga to manage The Grey Fox restaurant in Oshkosh (WI), during which time sons Matthew and Peter rounded out the family, Mike returned to Ripon College in 1975, after forming his own company. For the next 22 years, Hospitality Unlimited, Inc. provided the food service for the college as well as for several nursing homes, commercial businesses, retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and other accounts up and down eastern Wisconsin, employing as many as 350 and serving up to 5 million meals a year.

The Mihálys retired in 1997 and, to be nearer Matthew, moved to a small ranch in the Sierra foothills near Sonora, CA, where they raised cattle and horses. There, Mike consulted for a local culinary arts program, enjoyed working the ranch, and traveled with Penny as extensively as the ranch allowed.

In 2016, subsequent to his diagnosis of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, he and Penny moved to Fountaingrove Lodge, a retirement community in Santa Rosa, CA, where they lived together until 2023, when declining health required a move to a small board-and-care home where he was lovingly cared for until his death.

Mike loved the outdoors. Hunting came naturally, having grown up in the forest, but also when he became an owner of The Quacker Barrel hunting land in nearby Rosendale. He eagerly looked forward to annual fishing trips to Canada with friends, Ken Cartier, Mike Ferin, Doug Lyke, Bob Meyer, and others; the stories were endless and appropriately exaggerated. Mike also loved animals of all kinds, especially the dogs (Vizslas and Labs) who were his faithful hunting companions. Downhill skiing became a favorite family sport, and he was fearless on the slopes right through his 70s. Above all he remained a proud Hungarian throughout his life and a grateful citizen of both Canada and the United States.

Surviving are his wife of 57 years, Penny of Santa Rosa, CA; son, Matthew and his wife Eileen Munroe of Novato, CA; brothers-in-law, Lászlo Orlóci, Robert Smith, and Richard (Gail) Smith; sister-in-law, Margaret Smith; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son, Peter; parents; parents-in-law, Graeme and Margaret Smith; sister, Márta Mihály Orlóci; brothers, Csaba Mihály and Attila Mihály; and sister-in-law, Adele Petznick Smith.

Private inurnment at Woodlawn Cemetery, Ripon, WI, will take place on August 29, 2026, followed by an informal afternoon gathering at Ripon College for Ripon area friends and colleagues. For details or to share a memory or condolences, please contact Julie Ricciardi at ricciardij@ripon.edu or Penny Mihály at mihaly9595@gmail.com

Gifts in Mike’s memory may be directed to Ripon College, the Alzheimer’s Association, or a charity of your choice.