Edward John Filipek

Eddie, or “Grandpa” as he liked to be called by his family, friends and neighbors, was born in Manhattan, NYC on December 14, 1932. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and graduated in June of 1950. Eddie then pursued his engineering degrees by attending classes at the City College of New York (CCNY) in upper Manhattan for two years before transferring to Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute in Brooklyn. He earned both his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree (1958) and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree (1963) from Brooklyn Poly by taking classes at night and holding down full-time engineering positions during the day. He was also a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State, which he earned after amassing 12 years of education and/or experience credits plus passing a 16-hour national licensing examination. He was also a member of MENSA International.

Some of the commercial and defense contractor engineering companies that Eddie worked for in the 1950’s and 1960’s included Ford Instrument, Kollsman Instrument, FXR, Inc., Sperry Gyroscope, and Edo Corporation. Eddie worked on many different projects such as the design of microwave systems, optical systems, servo mechanisms and environmental test equipment. Of particular note, he worked on the lunar lander module while at Kollsman Instrument.

From 1971 until his retirement on July 30, 2009 (38 years!) Eddie worked for the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (NYMTA). He was first and foremost a project engineer, and some of his responsibilities included supervising the installation of elevators, escalators, pumping equipment, boilers, tunnel ventilation fans, heating and cooling equipment, bus hoists, bus washers, water reclamation systems, acid neutralizing systems and tunnel lighting.

While a boy growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, Eddie was an avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan, but lost interest in major league baseball after his beloved Dodgers left Brooklyn for L.A. He then became a rabid N.Y. Football Giants fan and bought season tickets to see them play at Yankee Stadium in 1956, holding onto those seats and rooting for the team at games until the Giants left for the Meadowlands in 1973.

Eddie enjoyed folk dancing and attending theater, classical music and ballet performances. He had season tickets for many years to the NY Philharmonic, NYC Ballet and the American Ballet Theater (ABT), and enjoyed attending live performances at Lincoln Center. He was also generous, donating money to causes he believed in such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the USO and the ASPCA. Despite spending much of his time the past year in and out of nursing homes and hospitals, he never lost his sense of humor. Throughout his entire journey, Eddie cracked jokes with family, friends and with the nursing staff. He had a great ability to make others smile and his sense of humor will be missed.

Eddie is survived by his wife, Bianca Filipek; son Stephan Filipek; daughter-in-law Rachelle Kritzer-Filipek; grandchildren Claire Filipek, Matthew Filipek and Brian Filipek. Eddie was predeceased by his parents, Ignatz Filipek and Helen Filipek; by his wife, Milka Filipek; and by his son, Michael Filipek.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.conwayfh.com for the Filipek family.