Walter Szrek

Walter Szrek, age 72, of East Greenwich, our dear friend, husband, father, grandfather, and colleague, passed away Friday, June 28, 2024 at home, surrounded by his loving family, after a five-year battle with cancer. He was the loving husband of Irena (Morawska) Szrek, with whom he shared 47 years of marriage.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, a son of the late Emil and Maria (Walach) Szrek, he immigrated to the United States in 1979 after completing his MSc in Computer Science from the Warsaw Technical University and working at a technical institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Once in the United States, he started working in a startup company that became known as GTECH, later IGT as one of its first system architects and developers. During his 24 year tenure, Walter created many de-facto standards and solutions used in lottery systems and his technical contribution cannot be overstated in its importance to the industry. After leaving GTECH in 2003, Walter and Irena pioneered a random number generation solution known as Trusted Draw. Their company, Szrek2Solutions, became the leader in advanced and auditable RNG solutions for the lottery industry and continues to thrive after his retirement a couple years ago.

An avid collector, throughout his life Walter gathered many collections, including Polish posters, beer-bottle openers, white advertising figures (Michelin-men and others), and finally for the last 24 years, calculating machines. His calculating machine collection grew to become a notable collection internationally. Prior to his death he donated the collection in its entirety of 700+ artifacts to the Collegium Maius Museum of the Jagellonian University, in Krakow, Poland, one of the oldest universities in Europe.

Walter also co-created an important mechanical calculator reference website Rechenmaschinen-Illustrated, as well as his own personal calculator website (calculators.szrek.com), and until his final days worked on a book-catalogue of his calculating machine collection, which the family will make available on the websites in a few weeks.

In all his professional and personal life Walter, also known to many as Włodek or Wally, developed friendships with all people he encountered, and he was always kind and generous. Even though he was not able to maintain many close friendships during his last years, his old friends were very dear to him. He was a devoted family man, with a particular sense of humor and love for the outdoors, travel, and photography.

In addition to his wife Irena, he is survived by three daughters, Monika Szrek; Asia Szrek and her husband Hal and daughter Emilia; and Helena Szrek Sousa Pereira and her husband Nuno and children Hanna, Sophia, Dawid, Maria; and many good friends and family, who live in Poland, France, Israel, Sweden, the United States and elsewhere.

Relatives and friends are invited to his Funeral Service Monday, July 1, 2024 at 1:00 PM at the Sugarman-Sinai Memorial Chapel, 458 Hope St, Providence, RI . Burial will follow at the Swan Point Cemetery, Providence,

To view a recording of the funeral service live stream:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/olZ49E7vI2DvtJXq6vCWbQx7Jo_0R5SH92baqYZxCVM2XwS8apGoq852rean_mPu.00Y88Bvu_HgRzsQc?startTime=1719849561000

To view a recording of the graveside burial live stream:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/RrxScAI0OojTJoPZqNSqiGZbsJqodFjsfufW90EH86enQEswFN9U5g28gUywc1LQ.H_KxDAlMT3Fl_JhQ?startTime=1719860490000

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to Chabad of Warwick, 3871 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886 or the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.

Shiva will be observed at the Szrek home daily from 3:00 to 5:00 PM and 8:00 to 9:00PM.