Theodore Richard "Ted" Rogowski

1927 - 2021

Theodore Richard "Ted" Rogowski
December 20, 1927 - July 5, 2021
Lew Beach, NY
Theodore Richard "Ted" Rogowski was born December 20, 1927 in Chicopee, Massachusetts and passed away peacefully July 5, 2021, at age 93. Ted lived a long and productive life connecting countless people to his passion of fly fishing, environmental protection and conservation. A beloved, grandfather, and husband, Ted was raised in a family of nine; his father Louis Rogowski and mother Leonora Ciesla had seven children of which Ted was the youngest. He is survived by his sister Evelyn Buika; his daughter Laurie Heintz, sons Edward (Buzz) Rogowski and Barry Rogowski; grandsons Bron Heintz, Toren Heintz, and Connor Rogowski; granddaughter Shannon Rogowski.
Ted earned a full scholarship to Amherst College, where he received his undergraduate degree. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean war, then attended Columbia Law School. He photographed and filmed with outdoor writer/filmmaker Lee Wulff and traveled with Lee to locations in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador during law school summers. Ted joined the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP as a patent attorney; clients included baseball legend Ted Williams and playwright Eugene O'Neill.
He married Marjorie Stoughton and they moved their young family to Virginia; Ted worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. as an attorney. He helped form the Environmental Protection Agency, and implemented the federal Clean Water Act, building sewage treatment plants and conducting civil enforcement to clean the nation's waterways. He also helped protect the Hudson River Valley from excessive highway projects.
Ted was a tireless volunteer for many fishing and conservation organizations, including The Anglers Club of New York, The Federation of Fly Fishers, Washington Fly Fishers, and the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFC&M). He was one of the founders and the fourth president of the New York City conservation group Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, and in 2002 was recognized with its prestigious Salmo Award for conservation activism. In 2017 Ted was inducted in the CFFC&M's Hall of Fame.
In the early 1970s Ted moved his family to Seattle, Washington, to serve as EPA's Regional Counsel for Region Ten, overseeing environmental law cases for the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. He was an avid life-long trout, salmon and steelhead fisherman, and enjoyed summer fishing vacations in Montana, Alaska, Wyoming and Yellowstone Park.
After the passing of his wife Marjorie, Ted married Joan Salvato Wulff in 2002, and lived on the Beaverkill River with Joan for the remainder of his life, fishing the local rivers and continuing his volunteer efforts at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, as well as with the Boy Scouts of America's fly fishing badge.
At the age of 93, Ted was proud to learn that his newly designed dry flies were featured on the cover of Fly Tyer Magazine accompanied by his article "A Better Way to Tie Mayfly Wings."
Donations in Ted's name can be made to the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, Livingston Manor, New York.
Arrangements were under the care of Colonial Bryant Funeral Home, for further information please call 845-439-4333 or visit www.colonialfamilyfuneralhomes.com