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Dr. Theodore W. Sudia, PhD.

  • On April 15, 2015
  • 19 Comments

Dr. Theodore William Sudia, Phd., age 89, of Pittsburgh passed away peacefully at home on April 15, 2015.

Born on October 10, 1925, in Ambridge, he was a son and the youngest of the eight children of the late Paraskeva and Frank Sudia.

Preceded in death by wife, Cecelia Elson Sudia and daughter, Norah Sudia Davies, also by siblings Anna, Frank, Marion, Victoria, Helen and Daniel.

Survived by son, Frank Sudia, daughter, Rachael Sudia (Keith) Boivin; grandchildren: Samuel, Cecelia Iris and Aaron; sister, Dorothy Evancho; and by many, many nieces and nephews.

Ted received the Eagle Scout Award in 1938. He proudly served in the US Naval Reserve during WWII as a radar operator on the YMS-200, a minesweeper in the Pacific. He received his doctorate from the Ohio State University in Plant Ecology/Plant Physiology. Ted held the position of Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota and later became the Chief Scientist of the National Park Service, where he retired after 25 years of service in 1995. He was a founding member of the George Wright Society an organization dedicated to the protection, preservation and management of cultural and natural parks and reserves through research and education.

A memorial will be held on Sunday April 26 at 2 pm in the Galbreath Chapel at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2040 Washington Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15241.   In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Dr. Theodore William Sudia, Phd. to the George Wright Society (georgewright.org) or to: Laurel Highlands Council, Boy Scouts of America (http://lhc-bsa.org)

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Cremation & Funeral Care, 3287 Washington Rd., McMurray, PA 15317, (724) 260-5546.

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19 Comments

Glenn Herrick
Rachael and Keith, and Frank, just remember that Ted will live on in all whom he touched. As his mentor and my father wrote before his passing several years ago, “I will live in the changes I have made that will continue after I am gone.” Ted and Cece made so many changes in me, changes for which I remain forever grateful, during that fairy-tale summer I spent with them and Rachael, Frank and Nora. They reset my moral compass. Ted has been since then my second father. I am deeply aggrieved to have lost him. I now can hear his boistrous laughter reminding me of his love of life — Bravo Ted.
Vernon (Tom) Gilbert
Ted was a brilliant and visionary leader of the National Park Service Science program. It was a joy to work with him. He was a founder of the George Wright Society and his ideals live on though this organization.
Kathleen Evancho Chmelir
Frank: I'm so sorry for your loss. You know how much I admired your Dad. He was one of my favorite people, ever.
Craig L. Shafer
Ted touched the lives of many people he worked with in the National Park Service. He was a mentor to me throughout my career and treated me like his graduate student. I will be eternally grateful to him for being my friend and very senior colleague. He was a visionary, way ahead of the rest, but whose ideas took hold in the agency sometimes decades after he introduced them. He will be greatly missed.
Denny Fenn
It is sad to hear about Ted Sudia's passing. I enjoyed working with him during his productive years at the helm of the National Park Service natural science and resource management program. Ideas flowed from Dr. Sudia like water and it always made conversations with him memorable and challenging to one's vision of how things could or should be done. He was unfailingly friendly and approachable to all. He was a mentor to many younger scientists and science managers in the Park Service throughout his career. He will be missed.
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