Geologist charted change to medicine

2/28/2006

Dr. Ted Zdanowicz, a family physician in Point Place and North Toledo for 18 years who once had been a geologist for Texaco in western Canada, died yesterday in his Sylvania Township home. He was 57.

He succumbed to pancreatic cancer that had been diagnosed late last year, said Maureen Zdanowicz, his wife of 27 years.

Dr. Zdanowicz plotted his career change while working at a Texaco oil well on Baffin Island in what is now Canada's sparsely populated Nunavut territory, Mrs. Zdanowicz said. Along with realizing that medical help was a long way away if anything happened in that remote area, he decided he wanted a more people-oriented career, she said.

"He was an unhappy geologist, and a totally contented physician," Mrs. Zdanowicz said. "He absolutely loved what he did every day."

Dr. Zdanowicz enjoyed cooking and gardening, and had a passion for trout fishing in remote wilderness areas of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, his wife said. He used his geology training to identify where streams were likely to have good trout pools, and "he and the dogs would be gone," she said.

A native of Montreal, Dr. Zdanowicz planned to set up a local private practice after completing his medical residency at the then-Medical College of Ohio. But in 1982, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that he had to leave the country because of the terms under which he entered the country for residency - even though agency officials previously told him he could stay.

The Zdanowicz family moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta, for four years, before returning to Toledo in late 1987.

Surviving are his wife, Maureen; sons, Ryan S. and Paul E., and daughters, Sarah T., Emily A., and Beth F.

The body will be in the David R. Jasin Funeral Home after 5 p.m. today, with a Scripture service at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Sylvania.

The family suggests tributes to the American Cancer Society or Toledo Area Humane Society.