Obituary of Teofil Grochowski, Sr.

Teofil Grochowski, Sr. 89, of Lynchburg, died Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at Lynchburg General Hospital.

He was born April 27, 1929 in Chicago, IL and then the family returned to a farm in Poland to escape the Great Depression.  When WW II broke out he was an American citizen considered to be an enemy of the state and he was hunted by the Nazis, captured and then used as slave labor, later he was captured by the Soviets and used as slave labor.  Once all the hostilities were over he lacked the papers to return to the US and was classified as a displaced person in the Soviet zone.  After much hardship he finally received a travel order from the U.S. Embassy enabling him to return to the United States.

Following his return to the United States he did odd jobs to get by while pursuing his education.  Teofil graduated La Salle University with a BA in International relations.  He was self-taught in the following languages: English, Russian, Polish, German, Ukranian, Italian, Spanish, Latin and others.  Teofil became a Professor at Villanova University, lecturing on scientific and technical German and Russian languages.  To further his education he studied Electrical Engineering and Math at Pennsylvania State University and Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State College. He later became a board certified engineer.

Teofil served his country in the United States Marine Corp. during the Korean Police Action (Korean War), was wounded and then honorably discharged.  Following his discharge he served in the Army Reserves. Teofil worked for the FBI and various agencies translating Cold War Documents.

During his career he worked as a senior engineer for Martin Marietta, Nuclear Division, then worked as a senior project engineer for Dow Chemical Aerospace Division and as lead engineer for the Boeing Company at John F. Kennedy Space Center for the operations and systems related to the Gemini and Saturn-Apollo Launch Complex Control Centers. In addition he worked as a project manager for Catalytic Construction Company for the design and implementation of a salt water desalination facility at San Diego, CA for the US Department of the interior. The technologies developed are currently in use by Israel and across the Middle East. He worked for Babcock and Wilcox for 14 years in plant instrumentation and operations of nuclear electrical power plants.

Teofil followed a lifelong fascination with precious stones by studying at the Gemological Institute of America and opening Teofil's jewelers which served the community for many years.  He also founded Grochowski International, Ltd. an international consulting firm.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Jennie Grochowski, and daughter Lisa Marie Grochowski.

Survived by son Teofil Grochowski Junior, Teofil Junior's wife Sara, granddaughters  Sofia and Geneva, and sons Roman Alexander Grochowski, , and Andre Grochowski and his fiancée, Victoria Campbell .

Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Diuguid Funeral Service & Crematory, Waterlick Chapel 21914 Timberlake Rd.(434) 237-2722.  Private burial services will take place at Virginia Veterans Cemetery, Amelia, VA.