Dr. Thaddeus ‘Ted’ Gromada, a beloved figure in the Polish American scholarly world, died on August 10 at the age of 96. For decades he was the spiritus movens of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) in New York — the role in which I first came to know him. PIASA is a multidisciplinary organization devoted to scholarship about Poland. It was born in 1942 out of tragedy, when members of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (Polska Akademia Umiejętności) found themselves stranded in the United States by the outbreak of World War II. Determined to continue their work, they banded together to promote knowledge of Poland in the West. PIASA acquired a new mission when, after Russian imposition of communism on Poland and the subsequent suppression of free academic research, PIASA came to continue research the Akademia no longer could. From its headquarters on Manhattan’s East Side, PIASA has continued this mission, publishing The Polish Review and organizing conferences that have kept the independent voice of Polish scholarship alive.

Ted Gromada was not just on the letterhead — he made things happen. Alongside his wife, his sister, and her husband, he put in the time, the effort, and the muscle to keep the organization vibrant. He was, in every sense, the heart and soul of PIASA.

A historian by profession, Gromada taught for many years at New Jersey City University (then Jersey City State College). He earned his undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University and his Ph.D. from Fordham University, where he studied under the great Oskar Halecki — a scholar also exiled by the war. Halecki entrusted Gromada with editing his posthumous magnum opus on St. Hedwig of Anjou, the great monarch and saintly queen whose marriage to Lithuania’s Grand Duke Jogaila brought that nation into the Christian world and cemented the Polish-Lithuanian union, making it one of the largest countries in Europe for centuries.

Gromada’s love for Poland was also rooted in his own heritage. Raised in an immigrant Polish home in Passaic, New Jersey, he was a proud Polish Highlander (Góral), steeped in the traditions and dialect of those people. For decades he and his sister published the newsletter Tatrzański Orzeł (“Eagle of the Tatras”) and were active in the Polish Highlanders Association.

Among his proudest moments was introducing a 49-year-old Polish cardinal, Karol Wojtyła, during the future Pope’s first U.S. visit, when he celebrated Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

In his later years, Dr. Gromada retired to North Carolina, remaining active as a writer, commentator, and loyal supporter of the causes he loved.

Some people leave an indelible mark on their communities. Ted Gromada was one of them. His indefatigable work kept PIASA alive, fostered serious scholarship about Poland, and inspired those of us who knew him. As a graduate student, I felt a bond with him — through our shared ties to Fordham, New Jersey, and the Highlander tradition — and looked to him as a model of how to blend professional excellence with ethnic pride.

Rest in peace, Thaddeus Gromada. May God forgive whatever needs pardon and grant you the reward of a faithful servant for your many labors of love.