Ted Lewandowski passed away on Sunday, July 15th 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland at age 80 with his wife of 54 years, Libby, son Matthew, and daughters Mary Beth and Laura by his side. A native of Baltimore, he was born at home and raised in Brooklyn Park. His mother Anna and father Anthony, a Baltimore police sergeant, were children of Polish immigrants. His uncle, Monsignor Stanislaw Wachowiak, was the pastor of Holy Rosary Church in Fells Point for more than 50 years—a focal point of the Polish American community that remains so today.
Ted’s early years were spent at the St. Rose of Lima parish school with his older brothers Richard who later became a chemical engineer and Dr. Anthony Lewandowski, who was a well-known internist in Baltimore. He went on to graduate from Mount Saint Joseph High School in 1955 and received a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He was a catcher on the JHU baseball team.
After graduating, Ted began working as a systems engineer in the military electronics industry, but that was quickly interrupted when he was enlisted into the U.S. Navy. After three months of basic training, and because of his critical engineering skills, he was placed in reserves and resumed his career at Bendix Corporation. He then began working to build one of the largest radar projects in the world at the time, a phased array aerospace radar at Eglin Air Force Base, that significantly bolstered U.S. early warning detection of nuclear threats during the Cold War.
In July 1964, he married Libby Silcott--writing in the 50th anniversary alumni addition of the 1959 Hopkins Hullabaloo, that it was the smartest move he ever made. They lived in Fort Walton Beach, Florida for several years where they enjoyed their early experiences, including surviving several tornadoes. Upon returning, they bought a house in Lutherville, Maryland as well as cottage in Sherwood Forest near Annapolis where they enjoyed many summers on the Severn River with Mary Beth, born in 1965, followed by Matthew in 1967 and Laura in 1971. His children were graduates of Loyola Blakefield and Notre Dame Preparatory School in Maryland, and went on to Georgetown University (Mary Beth), University of Delaware (Matt) and Fordham University (Laura). Their education was a strong focus for him during their childhood years and made him very proud.
Following several years of going back and forth to Florida, Ted accepted a position at the Technology Services Corporation which then had him driving around two beltways and the BWI Parkway on his daily commute for several more years. Tiring of that, he then took a job with the Baltimore-based Westinghouse Corporation, which later became Northrop Grumman where he worked for 31 years, well into his 70s.
Travel didn’t stop for Ted, though, as he was given challenging assignments around the world in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Dubai), Morocco and Europe (Switzerland, London, Germany, and France) as a Senior Fellow and Advisory Engineer in radar surveillance design. The projects had mysterious names to his family with names like TAFLIR, TPS-70 and AWACS. Commendation letters found in his files attest to the contributions he made to the success of National Missile Defense and NATO Theatre Missile Defense efforts: “his work ethic is strong, his direction is always clear, and his effort is focused and results-oriented…he has an exceptional attitude…always considerate, forthcoming, honest and diligent” with the “leadership, interpersonal and communication skills we need for customer relations and advisory roles…a leader among his peers and an invaluable asset.”
Despite his busy profession, Ted always found time for sports and his family, preferably combined. He was a basketball referee for many years, and a devoted coach and cheerleader for his kid’s lacrosse, rowing, swimming, basketball and summer sports camp pursuits. He loved being on the Severn River and spending summers “in the Forest” where he participated in many a tennis tournament and is remembered for always bringing a smile and a laugh to his many friends, as well as a good conversation and some healthy political debate on a warm summer night sitting on the clubhouse porch.
As he headed toward retirement, Ted wanted to give back to the alma maters that had been so good to him. It gave him great joy to celebrate with his fellow ‘Golden Gaels’ at the Mount and to attend his 50th anniversary at Hopkins. He was active in the Maryland chapter of the Whiting School Society of Engineering Alumni and volunteered as chair of Career Development and Mentoring and interviewer of prospective students. He was also an active member of the Democratic party for many years and volunteered as an election judge for the 2017 primary and general elections.
Ted will be remembered most of all, and especially by his family, as a principled and generous man whose outlook on life was always positive and who embraced life with a sense of humor and a logical mind. In the Hopkins reunion yearbook, he noted that the school’s motto, “The truth shall set you free,” remains his guiding principle. We are so fortunate to have had his passion, his guidance, his unfailing kindness and everlasting love as a husband, father, son, brother, colleague, fellow student and friend.
Visitation will be at the John M. Taylor Funeral Home on Sunday, July 22nd from 3-7pm and the funeral mass will be at 10:30am on Tuesday, July 24th at Saint Mary’s Church Annapolis. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering or to Mount Saint Joseph High School in Ted’s name welcome.
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