Saint Vincent De Paul Society

Klara Vajda was born in Hungary and lived in Israel and Brazil before moving to the United States in 1982, to Andover with her husband and three young daughters. She has a degree as a system analyst from the University of Budapest and was a manager at a computer company in Hungary; when she arrived in Andover she cleaned homes and catered parties for many years. She graduated as a paralegal from Northern Essex Community College at the age of 62 and subsequently worked at a family law firm.

Klara worked at Saint Augustine's Parish in Andover as director and coordinator of ministries and later as outreach coordinator. She "retired" at the age of 74. Now Klara is a Court Appointed Special Advocate in the juvenile court, a member of Saint Vincent De Paul Society serving the poor in Andover, and on the board of Communities Together of the Merrimack Valley. She also continues visiting the homebound parishioners of St. Augustine Church and for the past 25 years has run a divorce and separated support group.