Obituary: Theodore ‘Ted’ Shapiro

Theodore “Ted” Shapiro, age 91, died at Methodist Medical Center on Monday, March 17, 2014.

Ted was born in 1923 to Philip and Sadie Shapiro and grew up in Brookline, Mass. After graduation from Brookline High School he obtained a B.A. in Chemistry from Boston University in 1944.

Immediately after graduation, he accepted a job with Union Carbide Chemical Corporation (UCCC) as part of a recruiting effort for technical staff at Columbia University for the Manhattan Project. He was then selected as the only person from UCCC to go to DuPont in Wilmington, Del., and learn about the applications of fluorocarbons.

In April 1945, he was then asked to transfer to Oak Ridge, where, at the age of twenty-one, he participated in the start-up and production of the world’s first Gaseous Diffusion Plant for uranium enrichment.

After the war ended, he married his sweetheart, Selma Kravit, and brought her back to Oak Ridge to start a family, a career, and devotion to community service. He described those early days as a very exciting time and place, making lifelong friendships, working alongside fellow engineers and scientists from all over the nation who had come together for the common purpose of ending the war. Many, like him, stayed on to develop new applications for atomic energy.

Ted’s career included stints at all three of Oak Ridge’s U.S. Department of Energy facilities, moving into chemical engineering to work on decontamination techniques and uranium recovery processes, then on to designing facilities for transuranium element production. Later, his work took a more environmental turn when he was asked to work on special studies and processes to reduce airborne nickel, lower the loss of chlorofluorocarbons to the environment, and to appropriately dispose of uranium contaminated PCBs. One of his final projects prior to retiring after 47 years of service included a characterization of the ORGDP as it operated from 1945 until shutdown.

He was widely respected for his technical expertise and his willingness to share his knowledge. He was very active in the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers as president of the Oak Ridge Chapter, state director, and in various committee chairmanships. He was named to Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering.

Ted was always involved with community service. He was on the board of the Girl Scouts Regional Council (Highland Rim) when his children were young. He also served in leadership positions for many years with United Way and was recognized for expanding contributions to Anderson County (tripling them during his tenure). He was one of the longest serving volunteers for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and was an active member of the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge for more than 60 years, serving on the board in various positions.

He was an avid golfer, loved boating on Watts Bar Lake, loved the Red Sox, and in later years enjoyed taking classes at ORICL. In a 1964 issue of the Carbide Courier announcing Ted’s licensure as a registered professional engineer an article stated “Ted is a good man in a golf foursome; a “Shutterbug” member of the Carbide Camera Club; and a member of the Elks Club. All in all Ted Shapiro is a GOOD GUY—busy and brainy.”

Ted was preceded in death by his brother Charlie Shapiro, and his wife Selma.

He is survived by daughter Sandy and son-in-law Barry Guryan, daughter Susan McCarthy and partner Jim Bauer, daughter Ronnie and son-in-law Jim Bogard, and son Philip and daughter-in-law Mary Shapiro; and grandchildren Jonathan and Rebecca Guryan, Cory and Rob Karpf, Nigel Lay, Derek Bogard, and Jordan Bogard. Also surviving him are his great-grandchildren Max, Gabby, and Andrew Guryan, Emme and Miles Karpf, and Trevor and Maggie Bogard; great-great grandchild Carter Bogard; and many loving nieces and nephews and friends.

He expressed great appreciation for his loving family, his Courtyards Assisted Living family, and special caregivers Donna and Cathy. We would also like to recognize Methodist Medical Center for their loving and capable end-of-life care.

The funeral began at Martin’s Oak Ridge Funeral Home at 11 a.m. on Thursday March 20. Burial was at Oak Ridge Memorial Park following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, 461 West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, or to the Pat Summitt Foundation (Alzheimer’s Research), 625 Market Street, Suite 1400, Knoxville, TN 37902, or Jewish Congregation of OR, P.O. Box 5434, Oak Ridge, TN. 37830.