Theodore Diamond

Ted Diamond
March 26, 1993 – September 19, 2022
With sadness, the parents of Ted Diamond announce his death on September 19, 2022; he
was 29 years old. Theodore Harold Diamond was born March 26, 1993, the first and only child
of Karen Zukowski and David Diamond. He was named Theodore, which means "gift of God"
and Harold, after David's father. He was the first grandchild to Richard and Connie Zukowski,
and Hester Diamond and her second husband Ralph Kaminsky, with whom he shared a
birthday. He is survived by both parents, Grandmother Mary Constance Rapp Zukowski, five
uncles, five aunts, and seven cousins. He also had both religious and secular godparents, and
countless friends.
Ted was raised in both Pawling, New York and New York City, but made his home in the Big
Apple and had a tattoo in honor of it. He graduated from Beekman High School in Manhattan,
studied computer game development at Drexel University and remained a techie all his life.
Although he was dyslexic and ADHD, and rarely would engage in conventional academic
pursuits, he taught himself everything he wanted to know through books and the internet. He
travelled extensively, making his first trip to Alsace at two months old, eventually visiting at
least four continents. After working in the restaurant and bar business on the lower east side,
he set off on a backpacking/motorcycle trip through Southeast Asia, bartending and cooking to
earn his living along the way. Because he liked chemistry, he developed an interest in
molecular gastronomy, and loved experimenting with sous vide, smoking scotch, and
caramelizing anything with a blowtorch. In New York, he set up a catering business called
Cocktails by Ted, and was a finalist in a cocktail creation contest sponsored by Angostura
Bitters, but when the pandemic hit, he could not travel to Singapore to compete. He spent the
Covid era in in Brooklyn, making Raspberry Pis, ordering Grub Hub, buying crypto, and teaching
himself all about the blockchain and all that might come of the cloudworld. He was involved in
a start-up that hoped to invent a marketplace for artistic NFTs.
Ted died at home in Brooklyn. He had an active network of friends on-line and in the 3D
world, some of whom he knew since childhood. His pediatrician called him "Calamity Ted," and
his parents always hoped he would outgrow that, but he never did. He was courageous and
loving and stubborn and proud. We all miss him very much, and will never stop loving him.
A gathering to celebrate his life will be organized at a later date; cocktails using Ted's bar will
be involved.
- September 24, 2022