John Romanko

1929 - 2016

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather John Romanko passed away peacefully on October 26th 2016. John was born to Demetro and Varvara Romanko on July 2nd, 1929 in Toronto, Canada, where he grew up in a Ukrainian community and studied hard at school, graduating two years early from high school. He attended the University of Toronto to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics. During his time at the University of Toronto, he married his beloved wife Rose, and they had their first of three sons. The three moved to Fort Worth, Texas when John was offered a job at Convair to develop a nuclear powered aircraft.

Convair soon became General Dynamics, then, later Lockheed-Martin. Not only did John rise to the ranks of General Dynamics' top scientist during his 37 years there, he also won the Lockheed Employee Hall of Fame award. Some of his R&D efforts included nuclear and space radiation effects, holographic interferometry, and adhesive bonding. John authored over 60 technical publications, including five symposium presentations in foreign countries. He was President and Board Chairman of the Fort Worth Chapter of the National Management Association. John was the Fort Worth Regional Science Fair Board Chairman for a number of years, and, became the Board Chairman for the International Science & Engineering Fair, hosting this important international event twice in Fort Worth.

In his personal life, he greatly enjoyed performing the violin. In Toronto as a youth, he performed in a gypsy band, earning money through high school and college to help pay his way through college. He continued his love of music teaching his three sons to play the violin, viola, and cello, and John performed with the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra for dozens of years, well into his retirement. He was President of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth where his sons played for many years. For several years, he was a hockey coach for his sons, and, along with his wife, chauffeured their sons around town for competitive swimming events, hockey games, orchestra rehearsals and concerts, and many other activities A proud descendent of Ukrainian parents, John was extremely active in the Ukrainian community in Texas, with heavy involvement in the Ukrainian American Society of Texas for decades, serving as president of this organization for several years.

John is survived by his wonderful wife Rose of 63 years; his sister Sophie; his three dedicated sons Michael, Walter, and Terry; grandchildren Lisa, Kristi, Luke, Jonathan, Matthew, Sarah, David, and Hannah; and six greatgrandchildren, all of whom miss him greatly, but know that he is now with god. Private services will be held at Village on the Park in Friendswood, Texas.