Heinrich Theodore Gusek, Sr. was born April 13, 1938 at the end of the Great Depression in the small town of Schwarzenofen, Germany, in East Prussia, to Siegfried and Elizabeth Gusek. To all who knew him, his name was Ted. Ted's father, Siegfried, came from a family of farmers, and served in the fire department of the German Luftwaffe, putting out burning planes for the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. Siegfried was captured by the communists and spent 3 1/2 years as a POW in Russia. Ted's mother, Elizabeth, fled with her three young sons in the middle of the night just before their village was destroyed and her parents vengefully murdered by Soviet soldiers. She kept herself and her sons alive for the next four years, traversing East Germany, relying on her own wits, the sympathies of strangers, and care packages sent from Great Uncle Richard (Siegfried's brother in New York City) to keep them from starvation. Little is known of this time, for Ted rarely spoke of it.

After turning 14, Theodore got on board the M/S Gripsholm in Bremerhaven, Germany on April 26, 1952 and arrived in NYC May 7, 1952 on pier 57 with his father (aged 45), mother (aged 37) and brothers Richard (18) and Alfred (15) and little else.

Ted went to school in Astoria and graduated High School in 1955/56.  He went to the Mechanical Institute of Technology to learn mechanical engineering.  (Ted later told everyone in the Home of the Good Shepherd that he graduated from MIT as an engineer and built machines.  The nurses had great respect for him because he must be so smart!).  He started out as a draftsman and his employer sponsored him.  Ted earned his Engineer's license and worked for various companies designing and building machines, before starting his own firm in the 1980's and supporting himself and his family doing what he loved. He drafted and fabricated enormous autonomized cutters and splitters long before computers mechanized the craft.

Ted met and married Carolyn Ruth Brundege in 1962 and had three children, Timothy Alan Gusek, Marilyn Merlot, and Michael John Gusek and settled in Long Island, New York. Ted later married Phyllis Ann Meininger in 1982 and had two more children Theodore Hans Gusek and Crystal Elizabeth Butz and settled in West Milford New Jersey for the next 35 years. Nora Oliver was his lifelong and devoted friend.

Ted is survived by his five children and eight grandchildren: Michael Glenn Gusek, Larissa Lynn Gusek, Elizabeth Sue Gusek, Alexander Mitchell Brunkhorst, Kathryn Bailey Brunkhorst, Justin Anthony Gusek, Theia Amelia Gusek, and Dylan Wolf Gusek.

Ted was a hard worker, a world traveler who was very fond of his home. He was very tight with his brothers Richard and Alfred. He went to his church faithfully and travelled to Germany for his 50 ^th grade school reunion. Ted was a great talker and a little bit of a trickster, but in a good-hearted way. Ted was well liked by many.

There will be a celebration of Ted's life in the summer of 2022 in New York. In lieu of flowers, the family would suggest a donation to the Alzheimer's Society or a church of your choice.