On Thursday, July 3, 2014 Gabor Olah de Garab of Lansdowne, VA, a devoted husband of the late Amelia Olah, passed away after a long illness. He is survived by his nephew Peter Olah de Garab and sister-in-law Eva Olah, both of Milan, Italy.
Gabor Olah de Garab was born in Paszto, Hungary on August 8, 1924. As a young military officer he had to leave Soviet occupied Hungary and escaped to Italy in 1948.
After studying hotel management at the world-renowned École hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, he held managerial positions at some of the finest hotels in Italy, including the Gallia Excelsior in Milan, the Hotel Splendido in Portofino and the Cavalieri Rome Hilton. While working in these prestigious hotels during the golden age of travel, he played host to many of the major stars of Hollywood and other celebrities.
In 1967, at the request of Giuseppe Cecchi, one of Washington, DC's foremost real estate developers and then project manager for the Watergate complex development, Olah assumed leadership of the Watergate Hotel that year and served as its General Manager for 18 years.
After holding several other key positions in the hotel industry, Gabor Olah de Garab retired in 2005 and settled at Leisure World of Virginia, where he was a resident until his death in 2014.
