Former EETD Researcher
Ted Gartner Dies
Ted Gartner, a longtime employee of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, passed away suddenly on August 2. Until leaving the Lab in 2006, Ted was on the staff of the Communications Office in EETD, and served as assistant editor of EETD News, the Division’s newsletter. He joined the Lab in 1988 and held numerous positions, beginning as an Administrative Assistant in what was then called the Indoor Environment Program of the Applied Sciences Division (now Indoor Environment Department, EETD). There he supported the late Joan Daisey, Head of the program, and other IEP scientists.
Starting in 1990, Ted began working for Mark Levine, at the time the Head of the Energy Analysis Department of EETD. He devoted an increasing portion of his work to editing reports and documents, and in 1992, he became a Technical Writer. He joined the EETD Communications Office in 2000, serving as a technical writer and editor of a variety of reports, posters, brochures and websites.
Although, as former Division Director Mark Levine said, “he was ever cheerful and was remarkable in his eagerness to help with any task” at work, Ted was a well-rounded individual who also pursued many interests outside of his work. He served the City of Berkeley in a number of citizen-policymaker and volunteer capacities, and took care of his elderly parents, making frequent trips to their house in Woodland, near Sacramento, to take care of them. He had numerous friends within the Lab and elsewhere, who, among other things, shared his love of fine food.
Lab Community Relations Officer Terry Powell notes that Ted served two terms on the city’s Public Works Commission, and as well as on the Landmarks Commission for a time. He also volunteered for a number of civic projects, including planting and caring for the gardens on the median strips of University Avenue, and organizing and fundraising for the building of wooden playground facilities at Aquatic park. After leaving the Lab, Ted volunteered at a local grade school as a teacher's helper.
Says friend and colleague Kathy Ellington, “Ted was a talented cook and often entertained his close group of friends at home. He was also doing some freelance writing for the Contra Costa Times’ food section…He always had a zillion irons-in-the-fire about projects he wanted to do or something exotic he wanted to cook.” One of these recent projects was to make a basket of fresh tomatoes he had bought into catsup. “He was fond of Martha Stewart and her many recipes that involved presentation,” says EETD coworker Rosa Rodriguez-Flores.
Ted was fluent in Spanish, having lived in Spain for several years before joining the Lab, and on several occasions he used his skills translating Spanish to English for his work. He was also interested in Catholicism. Says Rodriguez-Flores, “As a member of the Catholic church, he was an expert when it came to identifying saints and the history as to how they became saints. He maintained a vast collection of saint statues and religious sculptures, many of which he collected on EBay and on his various trips to Guatemala, Mexico and most recently, Italy.”
Services are pending. |
