Theodore "Ted" Van Duzer

1927 - 2023

Theodore "Ted" Van Duzer Theodore "Ted" Van Duzer passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 24th. Ted was born in Piscataway Township, New Jersey in 1927. At 17, he joined the Navy as a radio technician, his entr‚e into a career in electrical engineering. With assistance from the GI bill, he earned a Bachelors at Rutgers University, a Masters at UCLA and a PhD at UC Berkeley where he served on the faculty from 1961-2014. Ted was co-author of two books, Principles of Superconductive Devices and Circuits and Fields and Waves in Communications Electronics, an IEEE Life Fellow, co-founder of Conductus, and an inductee into the National Academy of Engineering. In spite of his many professional honors, however, of most importance to him was his family and the many lifelong friendships with his PhD students, visiting researchers and ASC/IEEE colleagues. Before attending university, Ted's work took him to Corpus Christi, where he met his wife Janice Lee Dakin in the First Presbyterian Church. Their 68-year marriage was a grand romantic adventure with opportunities to live abroad and travel the world over. In 2018, their stories were captured in a book of Janice's travel letters, Dear Friends and Family. Ted's solo trips to India and Pakistan, China and Mongolia, Bhutan and South Africa, his life story and philosophy are captured in his 2022 memoire, The Life and Times of Ted Van Duzer. In 2015, Ted and Janice sold their Bay Area home of 50 years and moved into a new house next door to son Eric in Eureka. The new house was designed and built by close friends and family and Ted described it as "the house that love built." Ted and his wife became members of the First Presbyterian Church of Eureka and established deep friendships with other congregants. After Janice passed in 2018, Eric moved in to provide care alongside Ted's loving caregivers. Ted was always a kind, encouraging and non-judgmental father and a loving and devoted husband. He was a curious person who once ate the same meal three times a day for a week to see what it would feel like to be a dog. He created wonderful Halloween costumes from cardboard boxes, hung Christmas trees upside down from the ceiling and produced picture pancakes for special occasions. Central to his life was Ted's deep faith in Jesus Christ and his commitment to a life of service. He will be remembered as a man of great integrity, modesty, charity and generosity. Ted is survived by his children Jeff (Margie), Eric and Leslie; grandchildren Andrew, Nate, Raymond, Richard, and Veronica; and eight great-grandchildren. Ted is the last of six siblings to pass, but a large cadre of nieces and nephews carry forward the family line. A memorial will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Eureka on December 30, 2023 at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks that donations be made to the church.