Theodore Vander Els

Ted Vander Els was an active member of Our Lady of Fatima parish, Sudbury, Massachusetts: serving on the parish pastoral council for six years, as a lector, in the choir, and as coordinator of the parish’s Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). In retirement, Ted found his niche in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul where he became founding president of the parish’s conference, then president of the MetroWest district comprising 12 conferences, and finally as treasurer of the central Boston council.

Born and raised in northeastern New Jersey, Ted was the son of Elsie, a pioneer special-needs teacher and Barth Vander Els, a telecommunications engineer and councilman in the town of Waldwick. At Ramsey High school, Ted was elected vice-president of the student council and president of the honor society. He was proud of being selected second chair French horn in the New Jersey all-state orchestra and first chair in the regional orchestra. He graduated Ramsey High School in 1957 as valedictorian.

That summer he entered USMA and life took on a new focus. At West Point he was cited as a distinguished cadet all four years, elected vice-chairman of the cadet honor committee, and sang in the cadet glee club and chapel choir. Upon graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

After a tour in Germany as a leader of an atomic demolition platoon and then commander of a line company, the Army sent him to MIT for post-graduate studies where he earned science masters in civil and nuclear engineering, both of which he later taught at West Point, one of his favorite assignments. He concluded that USMA faculty tour as associate professor of civil engineering elective courses.

In the meantime, there was Vietnam. Ted served two tours, the first being advisor to South Vietnamese combat engineer units in Ghia Din Province and the second as XO of the 26th Combat Engineer Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division at Chu Lai. But as it emerged that the war in Vietnam was misbegotten and based on misperceptions of Vietnam’s socio-political history and objectives, it became for him a painful moral dilemma: asking young men to risk their lives, and often lose them for a dubious and eventually abandoned U.S. enterprise. Nevertheless, having sworn allegiance to the Constitution and obedience to his country’s elected leaders, he stayed the course.

Back in Europe, he was selected by CINCSOUTH to coordinate an analysis of sustainability of all naval, land, and air forces under that command. Later, at Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, he led a comprehensive revision of plans for the Army in Europe’s transition to war for which he earned the Legion of Merit.

At the culmination of his military career, he commanded the North Central Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for navigation and flood management of the northern half of the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and U.S. facilities on the St Lawrence River. Ex officio, he co-chaired the bilateral (U.S./Canada) commission on the Great Lakes, providing technical support to the International Boards of Control for Lake Superior, Niagra facilities, and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Other assignments included command of the Belvoir Research and Development Center; Chief of Combat Developments, U.S. Army Engineer School, and Chief of Plans and Requirements at HQ, Defense Mapping Agency.

Among his military awards and decorations: 3 Bronze Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

After retiring from the Army in 1989, Ted joined the senior construction management team on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project in Boston, from which he retired in 2004.

Along his journey and close to his heart, he adopted Stephen Michael Vander Els and subsequently gained a daughter-in-law, Allison Sugarman Vander Els and a grand-daughter, Rosalind Vander Els. This family has brought him the greatest joy of his life.

He is also survived by his loving brother, Barth (Betty), his nieces and nephews, Jonathan, Mia, Nat (Karen), and Alix, his grand-nieces and nephews, Nate (Dani), Auggie, and Addie (James) and her children Alistair and Elowyn.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Monday September 8, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Ascension Parish, Sudbury, MA. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.