In Memoriam

a photo of Ted Szabo
Tivadar “Ted” Szabo, BSc(Forestry)’61

Ted passed away peacefully after a lengthy battle with kidney failure at the age of 83. Ted is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Barbara; daughters Erika Hunting (James) and Eva Szabo-Brandt (Glen); as well as his grandchildren Janelle and Julie Hunting and Kody Brandt, all of Edmonton.

Ted was born in Écs, Hungary, and attended the Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma. He escaped the country during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 in order to go to university, and attended the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, majoring in physics before coming to Canada. He arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax with $5 and a newspaper, and headed to B.C. He attended the Sopron Division of the Faculty of Forestry at UBC, graduating in 1961 with a BSc in forestry. He then received his master’s in wood science from Virginia Tech, with a minor in forest products engineering. There, he married Barbara and eventually returned to Canada.

He worked in many different forestry and science roles in government and industry, and loved his work. He recently retired from his position as director of Forest Products Innovations at Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions. He was an accomplished gardener and incredibly hard working. He was always amazingly good at math, physics, and chemistry, and was a secret weapon for his children if they needed help in these subjects, even at the senior university level! He loved his family very much and always had time and some gruff wisdom for them. He provided a stable and loving home, a contagious love of learning and higher education, and engendered an incredible respect for his strength and resilience. Ted lived his life well and leaves a legacy to be very proud of. He was much loved and respected and will be missed.