Veteran killed in quake to be honored with memorial marker at National Cemetery
Courtesy of Pat Maxon
Dennis “Denny” Krisfalusy, right, a Mon Valley native who served in the Vietnam War and retired from the U.S. Air Force after more than 20 years of service, was killed, along with his wife, Lois, in the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico. A memorial service will be held for Krisfalusy at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies in the spring.
Courtesy of Pat Maxon
Vietnam War veteran and California Area High School graduate Dennis “Denny” Krisfalusy, left, and his wife, Lois Krisfalusy, at their wedding reception, hosted by Krisfalusy’s parents at a church hall in Daisytown in 1965. The couple were married for 20 years and were searching for a retirement home in Mexico City, Mexico, when they were killed in an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in 1985.
A memorial marker that will be installed at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies this spring will bring some closure to the family of Vietnam War veteran Dennis “Denny” Krisfalusy, nearly 38 years after he and his wife, Lois, died in an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico.
The marker and the memorial program are a result of the efforts of Krisfalusy’s siblings to recognize their brother’s service to the country and to have a place to remember him.
But the family has one regret: a federal regulation exists that only allows the names of spouses who died after 1998 to be etched onto the stone of a military veteran.
So Krisfalusy’s marker does not bear his wife’s name.
“I thought, are you kidding me? Because of this code, they were not able to put Lois’ name on the stone,” said Krisfalusy’s sister, Pat Maxon, of Brownsville. “Boy, did he love her. He was so handsome, and she was as nice as she was beautiful. Denny was so devoted to her; it would make him so happy to know that her name was on it. We are trying so hard to make that happen.”
Krisfalusy, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who retired after serving more than 20 years, and his wife were in Mexico City searching for a retirement home on Sept. 19, 1985, when a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the city, killing more than 9,500 people and injuring more than 30,000.
Denny and Lois Krisfalusy were both 42 years old when they died. Their bodies were never recovered.
For the family, the deaths of Denny and Lois were devastating.
“My brother was the most wonderful person in the world. He was kind, caring and funny, and when he walked in the door, it was a party,” said Maxon.
Denny, a 1961 graduate of California Area High School, was the oldest of the five Krisfalusy siblings, and although he lived far away from home, he kept in touch with frequent phone calls, letters and postcards.
Krisfalusy had sent the siblings’ father, Charles Krisfalusy, and their maternal grandmother, Mary Rohaley – who lived in Los Angeles – postcards from Mexico City in the days before the earthquake.
When their grandmother saw the news on television that a powerful earthquake had hit the city, she called Maxon’s father, worried that Krisfalusy and Lois were still there.
A relative drove to the couple’s apartment and found a calendar with flight information confirming they were in the city at the time of the quake. Later, the family called the post office where Krisfalusy had worked, and a manager confirmed that he had not shown up for work.
“When the earthquake occurred and we didn’t hear anything from him, we knew he didn’t make it,” said Maxon. “We knew then that the outcome wouldn’t be good.”
Maxon has fond memories of her brother and sister-in-law, but still grieves for their lives cut short.
Krisfalusy met Lois, an Arizona resident of Mexican descent who worked as a hairdresser, when he was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, outside of Tucson.
The couple were inseparable, Maxon said.
Krisfalusy and Lois had moved to Los Angeles, Calif., following his retirement in 1983, and worked as a mail carrier. They had been married for 20 years.
Maxon said the family held a small, private church service after the couple died, and a small stone was placed, in their memory, near the gravestone of the siblings’ parents in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Coal Center, Washington County.
But last summer, Maxon reached out to the national cemetery in Washington County about holding a military service and installing a marker for Krisfalusy and Lois.
That’s when she learned about Code 38.631, which states the spouse of a veteran is ineligible to have their name inscribed on the veteran’s head stone unless that spouse died on or after Nov. 11, 1998.
She turned to Veterans Affairs, but efforts to appeal the regulation have failed. A VA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the department’s “hands are tied” and it’s up to the U.S. Congress to change the law, if it wants to.
Angie Mattes, who recently retired as Director of Veterans Affairs of Washington County, agreed, saying, “Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. I wish we could.”
Maxon, who said she is grateful to the Cemetery of the Alleghenies and the VA for their efforts, recently reached out to a local congressman for help.
“I’m not giving up. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get it done,” said Maxon.
The last time the siblings saw Krisfalusy was at the funeral of their mother, Mary Krisfalusy, who died unexpectedly in 1984 at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack.
Maxon said her father, Charles Krisfalusy, who served during World War II as a cannoneer, never recovered from the deaths of his wife, Dennis and Lois within the span of a year.
“My dad lived for another 21 years, but the day he found out that Denny died, my dad died, too. You cannot imagine the heartache my father went through. He was never the same,” said Maxon.
Maxon said she and her family are looking forward to Krisfalusy’s service, which has not yet been scheduled.
“As sad as it is that Lois’ name isn’t on the marker, it is a joy to think that at least Denny will be recognized,” said Maxon. “He served his country for more than 20 years. He served in Vietnam. He deserves to be recognized for that. It absolutely will bring us some peace.”