In October 1956, Soviet forces invaded Hungary in response to a populist uprising. At that time, Hungarian athletes were competing in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, and 40 of them defected to the United States. Urged by her parents not to return home, freestyle swimmer Zsuszu (“Susanna," “Suzie,” “Susie”) Ordogh, age 16, was among the defectors. She was invited to Seattle by Nancy Ramey, also 16, who was from Mercer Island and an Olympic silver medalist at the Melbourne games in the 100-meter butterfly competition.

Here, on Christmas Eve 1958, Suzie Ordogh receives the official order making her a permanent resident of the United States. She will be eligible to become a citizen in three years. John P. Boyd, District Director of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, shows her the paperwork. In 1962, Suzie became a naturalized citizen and graduated from Seattle University with a degree in chemical Engineering. Three years later she married William D. "Dan" Zimsen, a Tacoma man. Their daughter, Rosie (Zimsen) Sheppard, was state champion swimmer in high school, and in 2006, was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Caption information source: The Seattle Times: December 22, 1956, p. 2; December 26, 1956, p. 33.
Caption information source: "In a Class of Their Own," Kitsap Sun, October 3, 2009, p. B17.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff.