Theodore Joseph Niedbala

Theodore “Ted” Niedbala went to his eternal home on Oct 9 2023. His earthly life lasted 107 years. He outlasted 2 world wars, 2 pandemics, the Great Depression, a great recession, and 19 presidencies.

Born on Oct 25 1915 in Lorain Ohio, he was the fourth of 10 children, and the last living, of Anthony & Magdalena (Strzalka) Niedbala. His siblings gone before him are Ladoceia “Lottie” (Edward) Borucki; Aloysius “Moe” Niedbala; Mary (Bryan Hutson) (Glenn Lynn) Hutson Lynn; Helen “Hanna” (Mike) Lesczhik; Edward (Betty) Niedbala; Sr Dominica, OSF; Stella (Frank) Bus; Florence Niedbala; and Joseph (Victoria) Niedbala.

Left to cherish his memory are four generations of nephews and nieces, led by Evelyn Ozga, 95,the first child of Ed & Lottie.

The family moved to Detroit in 1921 and then Hamtramck.

After grade school and two years of trade school, Ted, like millions who struggled during the Great Depression, searched for any employment.

Thus began his vocation – public service. Much of Ted’s working life had him serving his fellow countrymen in some capacity. He spent one summer on a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project harvesting turnips on a farm in Middleton, a crossroads near Alma. To his dying day, “Teets” believed the farmer still owed him a month’s wage of $30. He worked in the winters for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) building logging roads in the UP.

Then, with the threat of war, Ted enlisted in the Army in 1941. His war record covers the country. His stations included Battle Creek, Ft Davis NC, Seattle, New Orleans, Arkansas, Atlanta, Texas, then to Boston, where he shipped overseas to Marseilles France on the USS West Point.

While his body was frail and broken in his final years, Ted had a keen mind to his living end. He remembered events from his childhood and especially his wartime activities. He spent basic training earning rifle marksman recognition and was assigned to an artillery unit. But, after Pearl Harbor, he was ordered to Seattle to help man a barrage balloon detail protecting the Boeing aircraft plant, which was building the B-17 Flying Fortress for the US Army Air Corps.

When the Army sent him to Arkansas in 1943, his superiors noticed his shooting expertise and moved him to guard duty, keeping watch over Italian POWs there and in New Orleans. Eventually, “the old man” – as he referred to any ranking officer – assigned him to a hospital unit. He trained in Atlanta, and Abilene and San Antonio before shipping out of Boston in 1944. [Two Detroit legends spent time in Atlanta in 1943: Ted and Ernie Harwell, who broadcast Atlanta Crackers baseball games that Ted attended.]

But, he never worked in a hospital, being assigned to guard duties throughout His European tour. Ted never let the dust settle under his feet, though. He always sought another job to stay busy and to stay abreast of the news. “Dewey” got a position as a switchboard operator for the camp. There he had more stable hours and he was inside!

Ted did spend time in a hospital … as a patient. As the Army was making a push into Germany, it needed replacements at the front. On a Friday night in February 1945, the officer in charge of the replacement unit noticed Ted favoring his left leg. It had been bothering Ted for about a week.

He was ordered to get an X-ray the next day. He had osteomyelitis. His surgeon was a Brooklyn native named Capt. Stone who had graduated from the University of Michigan.

He spent 30 days in the Army’s 28th General Hospital as he received penicillin directly into the open wound in his leg. Then, he was sent to a hospital in Paris, which began his long trip home. Back then, if you got sent to the UK for a hospital stay, you would be staying in Europe. A trip to Paris meant you were going home.

His trip home took him via Paris, the Azores, Newfoundland, and Mitchel Air Field on Long Island. After 3 days, the Army shipped him to Illinois and then to Indianapolis, where Ted spent 3 months convalescing in Billings General Hospital.

After the war Ted worked at manufacturing plants in Detroit. At Ainsworth Manufacturing he met Helen. In fact, they met while ride-sharing. A strike in 1951 by the electric streetcar crews forced Ted to find a ride to work. The driver also picked up 2 women who worked at the plant, one being Helen. Their shared rides turned into a friendship and into an everlasting love.

They married in June 1952 and enjoyed many trips – Niagara Falls, the New York World’s Fair, Banff, Frankenmuth, Alaska, Florida, the Soo Locks, Washington DC, Seattle, Las Vegas, Mackinac Island, the UP, and more.

Ainsworth moved its plant in 1954 from Detroit to Tennessee. “Teddy” then put on another uniform, donning the colors of another public service branch as a clerk at the US Post Office in Detroit. He retired in 1980 after 26 years of service at the mandatory retirement age of 65.

Helen died in 2007. Ted will be buried next to his bride.

Throughout his life, Theodore lived how he was – a grateful, peaceful, gentle, faithful child of God who always planned ahead. After deciding to move out of his house and into Pomeroy Assisted Living, on his first day at his new home in 2019, Ted began planning this new phase of his life by making several medical appointments.

When war threatened in 1941, he decided to enlist, getting the benefit of selecting his preferred branch of the service instead of being drafted and being told by Uncle Sam where to go and what to do.

Ted seemed to do what needed to be done. No jobs during the Depression? Find some through the WPA and the CCC. An evil force threatening our country? Join up to protect our shores.

He was grateful for every day of his life, and of the people who cared for him. He noticed how hard the staff at Pomeroy worked and so, every day, he made his bed to make their job a bit easier. And, Ted insisted that he would walk on his own to any gathering at Pomeroy. He said that he wanted the staff to take care of the “old people” at Pomeroy first.

Ted had a kind word for everyone and people enjoyed his gentle, joyous manners.

We, his family, are grateful to his family at Pomeroy for adopting Ted as one of their loved ones. The staff and other residents treated him with kindness and love every day.

In lieu of flowers, any donations made to the Pomeroy Assisted Living Employee Christmas Fund, 2200 East 15 Mile Road, Sterling Heights, Michigan 48310.