A good friend once told Steve Meszaros that he could make a lot of money working just half a day as long 
as he worked hard. “And then thefriend told me I could even choose which 12 hours of the day I wanted to work,” Meszaros explains, his eyes lighting up with his smile.
Meszaros took that advice to heart and relied on hard work and long hours to build a successful career in real estate before establishing the award-winning Avonlea Homes. To this solid foundation, he added a passionate dedication to the community and strong love of the country he has called home since he was five, when he and his parents and brother arrived after fleeing their hometown of Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution. Meszaros, who sold Avonlea Homes Master Builder last fall, is recognized as one of the city’s leading business people and philanthropists and has been named Lethbridge College’s Honorary Degree recipient this year.
“Lethbridge College opened all the doors to me in my further education and in my life,” says Meszaros. “It really laid a great foundation for my career. A lot of the business principles I use today were the ones I learned as a student at the college.”
Meszaros’ connections to the college go back to shortly after his family’s arrival in the city in 1958. One of the first jobs his father had in this country was working in constructing the first buildings on the campus of what was then Lethbridge Junior College. In the 1980s, Meszaros taught real estate courses on campus, and he has been a long-time supporter of the college’s fundraising events, including the Clayton Allan Wine Auction.
“We have to give back,” Meszaros explains. “We have to volunteer, to help the less fortunate.” And, he concludes, it never hurts to work hard – even if you are only working half a day.
