Theodore (Ted) Zawalski

ILION - Theodore (Ted) Zawalski, age 89, of Ilion, New York, passed away peacefully, in the comfort of his home, with his children, on June 24, 2023, after a heroic three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, doing one of his favorite activities, sleeping through a Yankees game, of which the Yankees finally won not long after. Make of that what you will.

Ted was born September 5, 1933, to Polish Immigrants Walter and Teofilia (Salski) Zawalski, in Herkimer, New York, as a first generation American. A devout Catholic, he was an Alter Boy at St. Joseph’s Church and at a young age, while his siblings were overseas in World War II, managed with his twin brother, Ed, their small farm on Steele Street, which provided them sustenance during the Great Depression and allowed their generous-of-heart Polish speaking mother to offer food to the unemployed men wandering the train tracks behind their house. He graduated from Herkimer High School, in 1951 and enlisted in the Air Force 1952-1956 during the Korean War. He married Irene Joyce Mielcarski, on September 12, 1959, with whom he raised two children. He retired from Griffiss AFB as an avionics technician with over thirty years of service at age 60, one year before the base closed in 1995. Ted was the youngest of 10 children: sisters, Jane Zawalski, Violet Zawalski, Stella Krawczyk, Bertha Orlowski, Mary Kapolka and brothers, Chester, Mitchell, Karl, and his (older) twin brother, Edward, whom he followed into this world and with whom he chased and fetched their dog, Cheetah, when he repeatedly jumped out of his wash tub on Eureka Ave and ran for cover to their old house on Steele Street, served as an Alter Boy, joined the Air Force, had a double wedding, served and retired from Griffiss AFB and celebrated their 90th birthday year just before his passing. Ted never met a dessert he didn’t like or an inopportune moment for chocolate. What a way to go.

Ted was a real camper through sunshine, rain and snow, at Nick’s Lake in the Adirondack’s into his ‘80’s and, nearly until his passing, was hiking the Russell Park 3-mile Horseshoe Trail logging road in Ilion. He was never without a flashlight or a fireplace shovel and a man of few words, he would surprise you out of the blue with a joke that would floor everyone within earshot with a contagious belly laugh that he would joyously join in on.

Ted was pre-deceased by his parents and 8 oldest siblings and their spouses; and by his wife, Irene, on December 19, 1998. He was also predeceased by all of his four-legged family: his grand dogs Horse, Roxy, Dublin, Camille, Sophie, and Tizzy; and his best buddies, Cheetah, Nick, Blackie and Mikey, whom used to wake him up to learn the Yankees score before he figuratively departed to the quintessential farm in Upstate New York in 2021 to wait until he was able to rejoin his two-legged companion and walk with him once more. So it was not without irony that Ted passed hearing the bark of a dog.

Ted is survived by his older twin brother, Edward, of Oriskany, New York; his son, Christopher Zawalski and daughter-in-law, Mary Ann, of Long Beach, California; his daughter, Lisa Zawalski, of Ilion, New York; his Nick’s Lake camping crew nephews, Ken Zawalski and Dalton, of Mexico, New York, David and Julie and family, of Rochester, New York, Gavin and Kelly and family, of San Jose, California; nieces, Carol and Joe Tauriello and family, of Buffalo, New York, Patricia and Jim McDerby and family, of Spofford, New Hampshire, Linda and Tom O’Brien and family, of Havertown, Pennsylvania, Sharon and David Hemmes and family, of Rensselaer, New York, Diane Vicik and family, of Whitesboro, New York, Brenda and Bill Barlow and family, of Clay, New York; and Robert ‘Big Uncle Texas Bob’ and Kelly Zawalski and family, of Houston, Texas, Susan and Carl Gogol and family, of Manlius, New York; and numerous other nephews, nieces, cousins and grands.

Our father was blessed with the aid and support of many along his challenging journey, who heroically gave of themselves with the treatment of his pancreatic cancer, especially during the Covid Pandemic. We would like to thank Dr. William Parker, his wife and Registered Nurse, Joanne, and the staff at Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare, the staff at Faxton Regional Cancer Center, St Luke’s Hospital, and St Elizabeth Hospital, Hospice and Palliative Care, Bassett at Home Care, Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, Integrative Medicine, of Central New York, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Integrative Medicine. We would also like to thank the support of his good friends and neighbors: Bob McKinley, his buddy whom gave him the big yellow canvas camping tent that required recruiting all of Loop E to erect, and Beverly McKinley, a delightful tell-it-like-it-is old school nurse whom would warn him that he was becoming a curmudgeon when he was resistant to adopting another dog after each passed, giving him a gleam in his eye and a no further delayed opportunity to have the comfort of another best four-legged friend again, family friend and generous Ukrainian cook, Marilyn Kaltoff; his nephew, whom was like a son to him and whom could source campfire wood better than a Truffle Hog, Ken Zawalski; and his twin brother (did I already say ‘older?‘) and fellow Yankee fan, Ed Zawalski, who kindly gave him a copy of the photo of their much loved childhood Samoyed dog, Cheetah, from the frame atop his bedroom bureau.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in his name to the Herkimer County Humane Society, 514 State Rte 5S, Mohawk, NY 13407. Envelopes will also be available at the funeral home, for this purpose.

A viewing hour will be held at 11:00 a.m. to Noon, on Thursday, June 29, at the Enea & Ciaccia Family Funeral Home, 4309 Acme Road, in Ilion, followed by a Catholic Mass, at Noon, at the Church of the Annunciation, in Ilion, after which a procession to the gravesite at Calvary Cemetery in Herkimer for prayer and military honors.

Ted was an unassuming man, who wanted to go out to the hymn of When the Saints Go Marching In. He wanted to be buried in his favorite comfortable camping clothing with the pictures of his four-legged friends, along with the ashes of his last four-legged caregiver, Mikey. With a twinkle in his eye, he humorously agreed that we might want to tape shut his card of a dog barking the happy birthday tune should we want to include it with him in his closed casket. Be in that number.

Ted’s funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Enea, Ciaccia & Applegate Funeral Directors.