OBITUARY

Theodore Doerzbacher

April 20, 1925 – January 19, 2019

IN THE CARE OF

Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home

Theodore 'Ted' Doerzbacher

Lifelong Great Kills resident was a familiar presence on S.I.

Theodore "Ted" Doerzbacher, a lifelong Great Kills resident who roamed the beaches and byways of his hometown well into his 90s with the same enthusiasm and energy he flashed on the football field for New Dorp High School and Wagner College as a young man, passed away peacefully on Jan. 19, 2019. He was 93.

Ted, who was proud of his heritage as a native Islander, may be remembered by Advance readers for his contributions to coverage of the Island's history. He often wrote letters and was interviewed for stories in the Advance, providing context and color for stories that interested him, particularly issues of conservation and the Island's history.

Born in Great Kills in 1925 in the house next door to his current residence, Ted Doerzbacher was the embodiment of the small-town life that was Staten Island in those days. Ted attended P.S. 8 in Great Kills, just blocks from his home, and was class president. His grandparents lived nearby.

As a student at New Dorp High School, Ted played football for the Centrals but also managed to find time to work as a commercial clammer on Staten Island, digging clams all year long in all kinds of weather. He would be drawn to the water for the rest of his life.

During World War II, Ted spent 2-1/2 years in the Coast Guard, stationed off the coast of Virginia aboard a two-masted schooner which was serving as a pilot boat.

Following the war, Ted returned to Staten Island. He enrolled at Wagner College, where he met his future wife, Olga Antonopulos. The two were seated next to each other in class and struck up a conversation over the fact they were both left-handed. They married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stapleton in 1952 and moved to Great Kills, next door to the house where Ted grew up.

At Wagner, Ted would cement his reputation as a football star, completing an arc that started, naturally, in Great Kills. At 12 years old, he organized his own football team without any adult supervision. He was the team captain, coach, manager, and quarterback. Ted earned the money to buy team jerseys by selling chances at 10 cents apiece to win a cake his mother baked.

Known variously to his teammates as Crazy Legs, The Shark, Scatback and Li'l Iodine (for his red hair and teasing, sometimes stinging, wit), Ted played football for New Dorp High School 1939-1942, playing both offense (halfback) and defense. He held the record for longest touchdown run from the line of scrimmage (89 yards) for over 50 years.

When not playing for the Centrals - or digging clams - during his teen years, he played for the Great Kills Football Team at Fitzgerald's Field through 1941 and then the New Dorp Queens in 1942.

Ted would vividly recall a game played on Dec. 7, 1941, when his Great Kills team faced off against the New Dorp Queens. The players kept hearing the words "Pearl Harbor" drift across the field, but they didn't know what it was about until they got home.

The following season, the Great Kills team disbanded as so many of the older players had gone into the service, and Ted moved over to play for the Queens. Then he joined the Coast Guard, putting football on hold for a few years.

Returning to Staten Island after the war, Ted enrolled at Wagner College and played football for the Seahawks from 1946 through 1949. In his first two games, Ted scored four touchdowns.

Ted was also a charter member and president of the Delta Nu fraternity at Wagner.

Ted graduated from Wagner in 1950, with a B.S. in Business Administration. He would go on to join CitiGroup as a loan officer and remained with the bank for 37 years.

Ted and Olga would marry in 1952 and move into their current residence, next door to Ted's parents, where they raised their family.

The Doerzbachers maintained ties with Wagner throughout their lives. Ted was a past president of the Wagner alumni association and co-founder of the Touchdown Club, and regularly attended homecoming weekend and other football and basketball games.

The couple was also longtime active members of Christ Lutheran Church in Great Kills, where Ted served as a door greeter and usher every Sunday.

While much around them changed over the years, the Doerzbachers returned again and again to places like Blue Heron Pond and local spots in Great Kills. The couple instilled in their children a deep appreciation for the history and natural beauty of Staten Island.

Ted, an avid nature enthusiast and environmentalist, was a hiker and walker throughout his life. He was a member of the Staten Island group Protectors of the Pine Oak Woods, and was active in the fight to preserve the Staten Island Greenbelt.

He wrote many letters to the editor of the Advance expressing his concern for conserving the natural areas of Staten Island and stopping what he saw as rampant overdevelopment. Ted was frequently quoted in the Advance in "Staten Island stories of yesteryear." His most recent submission was a bylined story about "old Great Kills," published in the Advance on Jan. 19, 2014.

Ted's hobbies and interests included college football and basketball; hiking, nature and environmentalism; reading; travel.

In addition to his beloved wife of 66 years, Olga, Ted is survived by his daughter, Amy, of Seattle, and his son Clifford, of Staten Island.

Visitation will be held at Casey McCallum Rice Funeral Home in Great Kills on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., with a service at Christ Lutheran Church on Thursday at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Christ Lutheran Church Memorial Fund.

Casey-McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home

30 Nelson Ave.

Staten Island, N.Y. 10308

(718) 317-7600

Published in Staten Island Advance on Jan. 21, 2019

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