GI Bill helped Monroeville doctor realize his dream
An opportunity to attend medical school seemed to be only a dream for Arthur Varga, who was 11 when his father died.
"But my husband rose to the occasion," said his wife, Lois Jean Varga. "He worked a number of jobs while attending high school but was able to complete his high school education, and with the help of the GI Bill, he completed medical school."
Dr. Arthur Bela Varga died Monday, Oct. 29, 2007, at his Monroeville home. He was 86.
Born and raised in Donora, Dr. Varga was one of two children of steelworker Nicholas Varga and his wife, Julia Kustvan Varga, who were Hungarian immigrants. His father died in 1933.
"Arthur received $2 a week and a quart of milk each day helping to deliver milk while he was in school," his wife said. "His mother worked as a seamstress who received 25 cents for every piece she completed.
"When Arthur graduated from Donora High School in 1939, where he was the class president, he immediately enlisted in the Army. Jobs were hard to come by in those days."
During his six years of active duty, Dr. Varga taught drafting, took weather photos in Alaska and served as a navigator aboard a B-24 bomber. He clocked more than 200 hours of combat, including the bombing of Japan.
He rose to the rank of lieutenant and received both the Air Medal and two Battle Stars.
Dr. Varga received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1952 and a week later married Lois Jean Tiernan, a nurse he met while he was training at Charleroi Monessen Hospital in Monongahela.
"Arthur often said that for him, 'it was love at first sight,' " his wife said.
Upon receiving his medical degree, Dr. Varga practiced in Donora, Smithton and Belle Vernon.
Lois Varga said her husband worked in communities with farms and coal mines.
"Arthur was a kind and caring man who never turned down a house call. And he'd often turn down a fee if it was an elderly person who he knew would find it hard to pay.
"Arthur was supposed to receive $15 for each individual who needed a polio shot. It didn't matter to Arthur. If a family had five children, he'd charge them a flat $15."
Lois Varga said her husband returned to medical school to receive training in anesthesiology. Dr. Varga spent 10 years at Charleroi Monessen Hospital and 20 years at The Uniontown Hospital, where he was chief of the intensive care and recovery units.
Dr. Varga's son, Jeffrey, followed him in the medical field and is an anesthesiologist at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland.
"The years I spent watching Dad helping those who were ill and hurting convinced me to follow in his footsteps," he said.
A devout Catholic, Dr. Varga was the chairman of the committee that raised money to build St. Anne Church in Belle Vernon, which replaced a Quonset hut that was used for services.
Dr. Varga is survived by his wife; two sons, Dr. Jeffrey M. Varga of Monroeville and Michael J. Varga of Ocean City, Md.; and three grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Gene H. Corl Inc. Funeral Home & Cremation Center of Monroeville, 4335 Northern Pike, where a blessing service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Mt. Vernon Cemetery, McKeesport.
