Bidding Farewell to Steve Hideg

It is with heavy hearts that we bid farewell to Steve Hideg, a beloved lifelong musician and cherished friend, known and loved by many in Los Angeles. Steve was a longtime client of St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, and while we mourn his loss, we celebrate a life lived to the fullest—a life that was truly “a beautiful struggle.”

Steve’s journey was a testament to dreaming big and living passionately, having even “crashed the Iron Curtain” to pursue his dreams. Despite life’s challenges, he remained a beacon of kindness and dignity, always treating everyone with respect and warmth. He often greeted SVMOW delivery people, including longtime Circle of Angels donor and volunteer Nancy Babka, with the heartfelt words, “Hello, my angel.”

Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist, met Mr. Hideg while writing about the plight of seniors in Los Angeles. He reflected, “Steve’s smile was no ordinary expression. It was a solar flare, starting somewhere deep inside and growing into a full-blown emoji. His jaw dropped and his body tensed in wild anticipation of uncompromised joy as he watched his friends perform, followed by a cymbal crash of a cheer—the sound of eternal youth.”

In his recent obituary for Hedig, Lopez wrote, “Steve Hideg was classy, gracious, old school, polite, a gentleman, a jazzy cool cat and a caring friend, and his beautiful struggle ended Oct. 17, when he died not long after his 93rd birthday. “Steve … focused on the good in his life,” said Tyffyne Stuart, whose grandmother and Hideg were a couple for years, long after Hideg’s wife died. “It not only sustained him, but it grew and spread and inspired others. What a lovely soul.”

Donors like you make it possible for St. Vincent Meals on Wheels to serve vibrant yet vulnerable seniors like Steve, helping them live their final years with dignity and joy.

Goodbye, Steve Hideg. You will be profoundly missed.