Walter Stephen Zukowsky

WALTER S. ZUKOWSKY, 79, of Stamford, Conn., passed away on August 15, 2013 at his home in his Glenbrook neighborhood. A lifelong resident of Stamford, Zukowsky graduated from Stamford High School in 1951 during which time he began to pursue his true love, photography, with a three-year membership in the school's photography club. He also served for a time as the club's president during his tenure. After high school, Zukowsky briefly left his hometown for the northeast corner of the state and earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1955, graduating magna cum laude. He followed that up shortly thereafter by obtaining his master's degree in the same field. Zukowsky would also earn a Master's of Business Administration degree from UConn several years later after establishing his career in the workforce. With his education in and knowledge of engineering, Zukowsky began a career in the defense industry in the 1960s with the Perkin Elmer Corporation. Throughout the 70s, and 80s, he worked in that company's Norwalk, Wilton and Danbury plants before culminating his career in the 90s working for the Hughes Corporation, which absorbed Perkin Elmer. Of the several NASA projects that Perkin Elmer/Hughes assigned Zukowsky to during the space agency's Saturn, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions, his most notable accomplishment was as a project engineer for the Hubble Space Telescope's optical components. Zukowsky will be remembered by his family and friends as a "Renaissance Man" – a person with an accomplished professional background in science and engineering who also possessed a reserved dignity and breath of knowledge on a great variety of subjects. His personal interests ranged from nature photography to military history to music of traditional European cultures. After establishing his professional career, Zukowsky returned to his first love and took up membership in several photography clubs. Over the years, he entered numerous amateur competitions in the New England area and received awards for his work. Zukowsky is survived by his wife, Jean, son, Stephen, two daughters, Suzanne and Catherine Cristiano, three grandchildren, Alexander, Mark and Annie, and sister, Olga. There will be a wake held on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 from 4-8 p.m. at the Edward Lawrence Funeral Home, 2119 Post Road, Darien, Connecticut 06850. A funeral mass will be held at St. Maurice Roman Catholic Church, 358 Glenbrook Road, Stamford, Connecticut 06906 at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with internment to follow at Fairfield Memorial Park Cemetery in Stamford. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association Inc., 135 Parkinson Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305.