Thomas Carl Banyai

Tom Banyai was born in Cleveland, Ohio to June and Carl Banyai. He spent his early years in Avon Lake, Ohio and after working in several states, eventually moved to Atlanta in 1996.  His death came after a long and difficult struggle with congenital heart disease.   

Tom had a lifelong love of computers and became a mainframe programmer after graduating from Cuyahoga Community College in 1989.  A self-described geek, he spent many hours patiently trouble shooting and fixing the computer dilemmas of family members.

He loved to dance, and contra dancing and swing were his favorites. He also loved sci-fi movies, spending time with family, dinner parties, cats and dogs, traveling twice with Marcia to Europe, and assembling boxed furniture.  As his father’s family was from Hungary, Tom was thrilled to travel with Marcia and Marcia’s brother and sister-in-law, Ann and Rod Hunter, to Hungary in 2017.

A faithful member of Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta, Tom served as a volunteer sound engineer for years and always looked forward to being the audio visual guru at Central’s annual retreats at Montreat, NC. He was an active member of Central’s men’s group and cherished those friendships over the years.

Tom encountered serious challenges during his early childhood and school years, leading him always to seek health and wholeness as an adult.  His quirky sense of humor was often evident on the dance floor and persisted right to his last day.

He is survived by his loving wife, Marcia Munson Hunter, a sister, Karen M. Banyai of Columbus, Ohio, and Marcia’s family, who lovingly “adopted” Tom many years ago.

A  memorial service to celebrate Tom’s life will be held on Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 2:00 pm at Central Presbyterian Church, 201 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, with a reception in the courtyard immediately following the service.  

Street parking is free on Sundays; there is also free parking available in the municipal parking garage on Central Avenue behind the church.  See map for details. The church is a short walk from either the Georgia State or Five Points marta station. For those unable to attend in-person, the service will be live-streamed on www.cpcatlanta.org