Mr. Ban and his family arrived in the United States in February of 1957 and relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. Both he and his wife, Noémi, went back to school to learn English and then pursued American college degrees. Earnest taught math and Noémi became a sixth grade teacher. Upon Earnest’s retirement, they came to Bellingham, Washington to be close to their son, Steven, a pediatrician. Earnest developed Alzheimer’s and passed away in 1994.

Above is just a very short summary of Mr. Ban and his family's long road to freedom. When I had Mr. Ban for math, he told us a lot of stories about his home in Budapest and about some of his trials and tribulations.    Upon doing a little research, I discovered the long and difficult path that Earnest and his family had to travel to escape the Communist regime.  His wife still lives in Washington and speaks publicly about her Holocaust experience.  If you would like to find out more, here is a website where you can begin.  https://wce.wwu.edu/nwchgee/no%C3%A9mi-ban

ADDENDUM (July 2, 2019): Mr Ban's wife passed away recently at the age of 96. Her story is so fascinating I decided to include it here.