Sandor Barcza, of Mountain Lakes, NJ, passed away on April 20, 2026 at home with his loving family at his bedside.

A memorial mass will be celebrated on Friday, June 5th in St. Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes at 10:00am. In lieu of flowers, please Plant a Tree or contribute to Families for Safe Streets. 

Born in Budapest in 1935 to Lajos Barcza and Countess Erzsebet Csekonics, Sandor spent his early years in the countryside of Hungary. Discovering an early aptitude for science, and chemistry in particular, the family fought hard - against the backdrop of World War 2 and then the Soviet occupation of Hungary - for Sandor to receive a proper education and he was able to attend a strong high school in Budapest.

The 1940s and 50s were a very dark period in Hungary’s history, and Sandor and his family lived through atrocities under Communism that would shape his outlook on life and the world overall. When the opportunity came to escape to the free world, he grabbed it - determined to chart a better course and pursue his goals of a university education, which had been denied to him by the regime in Hungary.

In a harrowing journey, Sandor escaped Hungary in November 1956. With his mother joining her brother in Portugal and his father remaining in Hungary, Sandor came to the U.S. with the help of Refugee aid agencies, joining (and being sponsored by) his sister Eva in New York.

With his broken English he was offered a scholarship to Princeton University starting as a sophomore and, through a fellow Hungarian student, eventually met his love and future wife, Eva Bacsak.

After they married in 1960, Sandor went on to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry at Harvard University and postdoc work in Zurich, Switzerland. With a move back to New Jersey, Sandor then embarked on his career at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, in research as a medicinal chemist (where he would stay until his retirement). Their daughters Ilona and Mary were born and the family eventually moved to Mountain Lakes, where Sandor and Eva would stay for more than 40 years.

Sandor was dedicated to his work and had a genuine passion for chemistry and science. With his curious nature, he always sought out and shared the truth. Another major source of joy was nature. There was no mountain or body of water that he did not want to experience and photograph. Sandor took many happy trips with his family to Hungary, Switzerland, British Columbia, Alaska, Montana and all the places in between. He and Eva took every opportunity to go for a swim, no matter how cold the water or rocky the terrain. And his philosophy was it’s always better to take the scenic route.

While nature provided ample visual beauty in Sandor’s world, classical music was the audio equivalent, and near and dear to his heart. He was always game to travel to a concert, especially the organ concert series at the Newark cathedral, but there was always music playing in his home and it served as a constant companion through his last days.

After his beloved Eva passed away in 2020, Sandor also became a passionate advocate for Families for Safe Streets, helping to combat traffic violence and endorse safer street regulation and design.

Sandor is survived by his daughters Ilona and Mary; son-in-law Andras and grandson Andras; and son-in-law Louis and grandson Olivier.

Services were arranged with the help of Codey & Mackey Funeral Home of Boonton. To share condolences or memories, please visit CodeyMackeyFH.com.