Airport administrators, the business community, young golfers—they’re not so much mourning the loss of a friend and colleague as they are celebrating the life of one of the community’s most widely regarded civic leaders.
Ted Eckert, 75, passed away June 7 after a prolonged illness, but according to the many community members who knew him—and some who consider him a mentor—his memory and example will endure in the organizations he supported for decades.
“Well, you should be sorry you never got the chance to meet him,” Hugh Rafferty, Eckert’s colleague on the Santa Maria Public Airport District Board of Directors, told a reporter. “He was truly one of those outstanding people, in every way.”
Eckert, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, worked for many years as a contractor at Vandenberg Air Force Base as a flight safety analyst. He later joined the airport district board, on which he would serve for more than two decades. He was most recently re-elected to the board in November 2010.
Eckert also served as secretary on the Coast Hills Federal Credit Union Board of Directors and as a long-time member of the Santa Maria Rotary Club and the community development program Leadership Santa Maria Valley. He was also an advocate of a Santa Maria junior golfing program.
Most recently, Eckert was recognized on May 11 for his community service by Leadership Santa Maria Valley as its first recipient of the Ted Eckert Lifetime Achievement Award.
According to Rafferty, Eckert’s personality made a mark on the community, but so did his professionalism in administration.
“The man himself, I think, will be the guy who’s picture’s in the dictionary someday under the words ‘leadership’ and ‘honesty.’ I just can’t say enough about him,” Rafferty said.
He added that Eckert was admired by colleagues as a professional whose style was to broker an honest discussion rather than break into argument, and he would always encourage every voice to be heard.
“Really, an all-around great guy, a great volunteer,” said Coast Hills Executive Assistant Linda Van Dyke. “I’m really going to miss him.”
Eckert is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Shirley, and their two children.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2011.