Theodore F. Schmeckpeper

1944 - 2019

Theodore "Ted" F. Schmeckpeper died peacefully at home, with family present, in Columbia, MD on July 14, 2019. He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 74.

Ted was born on December 6, 1944, in St. Paul, MN. He was adopted six months later by Theodore and Eileen Schmeckpeper of Glenwood, MN. He graduated from Glenwood High School in 1962. He excelled in varsity golf and reached a national high school tournament as a senior. Inspired by a month's study of astronomy in Texas and Mexico in 1961, he enrolled in the fall of 1962 at Georgetown University to study astronomy. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1966 with a degree in mathematics. On September 9, 1967, he married Barbara Joy Carlson, whom he first met in elementary school.

Ted was a software engineer on a variety of U.S. Department of Defense projects, including for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Westinghouse/TRW/Northrop Grumman. He retired from Northrop Grumman in 2010. He especially enjoyed working on the NASA satellite Aqua.

From 1972 through 1975 the couple lived in Melbourne, Australia, where Ted studied and lectured in the History and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of Melbourne. After returning from Australia, the couple lived in Greenbelt, MD, and had two children. The family moved to Columbia, MD in 1981.

Ted enjoyed spending time with family and friends. He had a wide variety of interests and especially enjoyed playing strategy games, attending Orioles games, golfing, discovering new music, hiking in National Parks, and traveling to the Outer Banks, Minnesota, and Italy.

In the early 1980s, he was part of a team that produced a popular electronic game, Lords of Conquest. The original version of the game was programmed by Ted, in collaboration with three colleagues and was published by Electronic Arts.

In retirement, he found an outlet for his life-long passion of reading. He joined Goodreads, a social booklovers website.Ted took great pleasure in his Goodreads experience and articulating his reaction to the books he reviewed was one of his retirement joys. His reviews were full of insight and good humor, with scholarly reporting a high priority.

Ted is survived by his wife Barbara; son Michael and daughter-in-law Anna; daughter Erica Lee and son-in-law Wayland Lee; four grandchildren (Emily and Michael Schmeckpeper Jr. and Katelyn and Desmond Lee); sister Kayleen Sager; and niece Jody Sager. He is preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial services will be held at Witzke Funeral Homes, Inc., 5555 Twin Knolls Rd., Columbia, MD 21045 on Saturday, August 10, 2019 at 11:00 am. Guests are welcome to visit with the family starting at 10:00 am. A reception will immediately follow at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Doctors Without Borders.