Gyula "Joe" Takacs was born on March 29, 1938 in Budapest, Hungary. He passed away on June 2, 2023 at the age of 85 in Livonia, Michigan.

.Joe was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. He was the second oldest of six children born to Gyula Kummer and Elizabeth Takacs. When he was 12 years old he quit school to help support his impoverished family. One of his many jobs during his teen years was blasting rocks in a quarry. He was fired from that position because in an effort to get more rocks faster for the miners he used too much dynamite in one blast that blew out the windows of nearby townsfolk. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Joe was captured and spent nine months in a Russian concentration camp. He and a friend escaped and in their travels were befriended by a couple of sympathetic American soldiers who helped them stowaway on a ship. When they were discovered at sea, the United States was the first country to grant them political asylum. In December of 1957 at the age of nineteen, with only the clothes on his back, no money, and not being able to speak English, Joe began his new life here in the United States. He was a hard worker, strong willed, and would take whatever jobs he could do to support himself. Joe eventually made his way to Michigan where he found his new family. He met a divorced lady, Dorothy Joann Mink, who had two young children, Sharon and Robert. He never hesitated to step in to become a family man to help raise these two young ones. In the early years he worked in collision shops to "bump and paint" vehicles. He began working full-time for General Motors in 1973 and continued his love of bumping and painting cars on the side. His biggest pride and joy was in purchasing five and a half acres of property out in Webster Township, working the field by hand to remove rocks, and building a home and huge pole barn on the property. He retired from GM in 2000. He met his current wife, Corinne around 2010, and they became "snowbirds" traveling back and forth from Michigan to Naples, Florida. He had a great sense of humor and a love of family. He enjoyed fishing, working on his property, card/board games and watching his favorite Tigers play baseball. Joe will always be remembered and missed by those who loved him dearly. May our Heavenly Father grant him eternal rest and peace in His Kingdom, and may the perpetual light shine upon him.

Gyula is survived by wife, Corinne Takacs; step-daughter, Sharon Mink; step daughter-in-law, Joanne Mink. sister, Elizabeth Kummer; step-grandchildren: Mark (Jacquelyn) Mink, Nathan Moreno, Eric (Vanessa) Mink, Jennifer Mink, Erin Moreno (Sean Michalski), Caitlin (Benjamin) Marz; step great-grandchildren: Brooklyn, John,  Brendan, Austin, Ellery, Violet, Lily, Daegan, Eleanora; step-cousin, Andrew Beavers, step-daughter, Darlene (Jeffrey) Smith Bruehl. He is preceded in death by former wife, Dorothy Takacs, step-son, Robert E Mink, and parents, Gyula Kummer and Elizabeth Takacs