John Taddeus Zych Jr.

Jack Zych passed away Saturday, October 11, 2025. He was incredibly loved and well-cared for by his family until the end, not to mention a truly impressive, multi-generational gallery of friends and loved ones who feel his loss. He will be remembered as gregarious and clever, generous of what he had and who he was.

Jack was born to John & Aurelia in 1930, raised in New Haven, Conn. with his older sister, Eleanor. He attended St. Stanislaus parochial school followed by James Hillhouse High School. He excelled in academics, athletics, and social life. Because of this he was awarded a scholarship to Yale University where he played baseball and got into highjinks with lifelong friends like Jack Colleran and his brother-in-law Jack Flynn. He loved to remark, “Not bad for a poor Polish kid.”

He graduated in 1952 and went on to live his dreams, taking to the sky as a Marine aviator. This was possible due to the consummate support of his beautiful, talented wife Joan. Together with their two children they made homes in Pensacola, Chicago, El Toro, and Greece- where they once spent a randomly lovely evening with the actor George Hamilton and his wife who were the only other people on a Mediterranean dinner cruise.

The couple eventually settled in Springfield, Va. as he finished his military career. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, earning the respect of senior officers and the many young pilots he had the honor of instructing. Following his military retirement he worked for EDS, spending several more productive years in the private sector before transitioning out of the work force. Their planned years of dancing and roadtrips were not to be as Jack & Joan hoped, however. He instead cared for her faithfully through unexpected illness until her passing in 2004.

Despite this loss, his golden years turned into decades of fulfillment.

“Grampy”, as many affectionately knew him, could be seen at hockey games, dinners, parties, museums, operas, concerts, plays, reunions, and was once carded at a bar in D.C. in his 80s.

He spent more nights than not eating dinner and watching Jeopardy! at the home of his daughter Tadd and son-in-law Beau Newman, who always had his back. He could not have asked for a more devoted daughter in Tadd, who ensured his comfort and security as he aged.

Over the years he also enjoyed cinema trips, and coffee dates with his granddaughter Hannah Hull, and feasts and family gatherings with his grandson Hal, granddaughter-in-law Katie, and great-grandchildren Aurelia & Ezra, as well as travel adventures with his dear friend Riki. They all shared laughs galore. As he often said, “We don’t win a lot of ballgames but we have a hell of a lot of fun.”

He was a fan of late breakfasts, treats of all flavors and sizes, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle in pen, reading a good book from the public library, Western classical music, Helen Mirren, golf, and adoring the many puppies who adored him right back.

He also loved to chat, a trait he passed down to his children & grandchildren. He got immense joy from regaling everyone with tales from his life, particularly his family, who will now be the keepers of his stories.

Na Zdrowie, Grampy, it won’t be the same without you.