Walter Zmed

Walter Zmed passed away surrounded by his loved ones on October 22, 2024, in Boca Raton, Florida.  Valeriu (his birth name) was born on October 4th, 1944 to Fr. George Zmed and his wife Persida with the help of his grandmother, a midwife, Paraschiva, just outside the root cellar during the Soviet/German Occupation and fighting in Comlos, Romania. While he entered the world amidst conflict and sadness, he lived his life with warmth, calmness, deep curiosity, and a profound commitment to God, and finally, he left this world and all who crossed his path with a sense of well-being and peace. 

Walt’s childhood was spent at various parishes that his father served around Banat region of Romania.  As the iron curtain started to open, Walt, along with his parents and older brother Cornel, emigrated to the United States in 1952. The Zmeds were the first family to leave Romania legally; they moved to Chicago where his father, V. Rev. Fr. George, served as a priest at Holy Nativity Romanian Orthodox parish until his retirement; and just like his sons Timothy and Michael, Walt honorably served as an altar boy. 

As a young man in Chicago, Valeriu became known as Walt to his friends and Lelu to his family and new baby brother Adrian. Music has always been close to his heart, so while in high school he created and conducted an ROTC high school unit marching band. With his brother Cornel he performed in Comlosana, a Romanian folk music band, that recorded two albums and toured the Midwest. After high school he pursued a degree in Liberal Arts from Roosevelt University where he became a voracious photographer and inventive painter.  He also proudly served in the US Army during the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector. Ready and expecting to serve as a medic on the front lines, he instead was assigned to a base in Alaska.  He found a way through his strong sense of peaceful morals to do his part for his Country and fellow man.      

After his honorable discharge from the Armed forces, Walt had an illustrious and multifaceted career - he worked as a Quality Control Engineer at nuclear plant projects around the country, most notably for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He was a materials engineer and then head of research and development at Livingston Graham, where he developed the natural mineral fertilizer Rock Dust. Finally, in his 50’s he reached his most natural role: a teacher. First, he taught science to homeschool students and then worked as a special education teacher for almost 10 years where he was acknowledged as a “Who’s Who Among America's Teachers” in 2006. He left an indelible mark on all his students and colleagues before he retired to his truest calling: full-time fatherhood. 

Walt was blessed with 5 children; each inherited aspects of his nurturing, gentle, creative and caregiving nature, enhancing their lives and expanding the reach of Walt’s loving care into the wider world. 

Always an artist at heart, he engaged in art projects throughout his lifetime. He took on the simple but invaluable task as the lifelong family photographer, carved a 15-foot Traditional Romanian Orthodox Cross from redwood that still stands outside his Father’s parish, and while working as a teacher, undertook possibly his proudest achievement: a ceramic 2,240-tile mural called “ Roots of Agriculture” that was created with the help of over 400 students, teachers, and community members over two years at Cantera Elementary School. And still, this says nothing of the countless paintings, poems, short stories, sculptures, and drawings that fill his loved ones' homes and hearts. 

For multiple years he was also the producer and host of Ikons, a TV show and passion project at Time Warner Cable. The show profiled people who made a positive difference in their community as individuals or the organizations they directed.  Walt saw nothing more noble than a person who set out to make others' lives better--this was a belief, along with countless others, he so fully instilled in his children.

Finally, Walt’s Orthodox faith has always been the cornerstone of his life. He was a deeply prayerful man, always giving thanks to God in all circumstances. He served on the parish council of St. Innocent Orthodox Church in Tarzana, CA (multiple times as President) and St. Demetrios Orthodox Church in Camarillo, CA. In his later years, he regularly attended St. Mark’s Orthodox Church in Boca Raton. 

He is preceded by his brother Cornel and survived by his wife Anya, his brother Adrian, five children: Timothy, Lilliana, Julia, Michael, and Sophia, son-in-law Michael, grandson Ever, Niece Debbie, and Nephews Justin, Randall, Zachary, and Dylan, and cousins Mircea and Luci, all of whom came to him for boundless knowledge, family history, and a quietly gentle soul. He brought all who knew him comfort and he will be missed beyond measure.

The family requests expressions of sympathy in lieu of flowers be made to St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church.