Ted Zysk - Remembrances

[19 Turkeys]

I received this from Eric King, one of Ted's close friends. Steve W.


R.I.P. Ted Zysk

It is not often that the universe allows one of us to die exactly as he or she wishes. About five years ago Ted Zysk was chatting with Dave Silva, J.R. Ray, and myself, and he told us that recently he had parked his truck (He was a long haul trucker who delivered motor homes.) in a truck stop. He experienced chest pains and thought, "I'm going to sleep. If this is serious, I'll die in my sleep, and they'll find my body after a couple of days. If it isn't, I'll get up in the morning and get back on the road. Either way it'll be fine with me." That time he woke up in the morning, felt fine, and drove off. A week ago in Sydney, Nebraska in the parking lot behind the Walmart it didn't work out the same way. He had a heart attack and died peacefully in his sleep. We can't ask for a better death. Requiescat in Pace Ted Zysk.

I remember in my childhood reading Reader's Digest. They had a series of short pieces called, "The Most Unforgettable Character I've Met." People told stories that filled that bill. Ted was that for me, and I suspect he also was that for Dave, J.R., and a lot of other people. It will be impossible to capture who he was for people who never met him. He really was unique in ways that if they are put into words don't really do him justice. He had a laugh like no one else I ever met. One of his favorite jokes was one I told him about a man crossing a street who is run over by a car. The police come and ask him for a description of the person who hit him. The man replies, "I didn't see her face, but I'd know that laugh anywhere."

Ted was a great silhouette shooter. At one time or another he won all the different creedmore iron sights championships at the IHMSA Internationals and the NRA Nationals, some of them multiple times. I have been shooting silhouette since 1979, and I have been personally present for some of the most significant achievements in the history of silhouette. None of them even comes close to what I believe is the most spectacular, most impressive feat in the history of silhouette. In Yuma in 2002 at the Cholla Challenge shooting half size targets at rifle distances, 200, 300, 385, and 500 meters Ted shot 30x40. Think about that. He got eight out of ten half size chickens at 200 meters, and followed it by cleaning ten out of ten half size pigs at 300 meters. Of all the things I have done in silhouette, the one of which I am proudest, the one which I hope will be remembered if anyone ever writes the history of silhouette, is that I spotted this 30x40, and that when Ted moved to the half size turkeys at 385 meters, he missed the first one by several feet. I knew he had had a perfect sight picture, and I knew he had a Bomar on his XP-100 in 7BR. I knew that this day he stood the chance of an achievement that people would talk about for as long as people shot handgun metallic silhouette. It was now up to me to make the right call on sight correction. I said, "Down four, left two." Without any hesitation Ted picked up his screw driver and made the correction I had called. He trusted me completely to do the best I could. He hit the next target. He got a total of six turkeys and six rams. Think about that. With an iron sighted handgun with a 15" barrel he hit six half size turkeys out of nine at 385 meters with the correct sight setting, and he followed it with six out of ten half size rams at 500 meters. I have said this several times. This is one of the most spectacular athletic achievements in any sport ever. If shooting was not a pariah sport hated by those in the media, Ted would not just have been in Sports Illustrated the next week. He would have been on the cover. This ranks with Ed McGivern's shooting five shots from a snub nosed revolver into a playing card at 15 feet… in .45 of a second.

Jim Henry described Ted as a most generous, devoted friend. The following very recent story from Harry Sharp shows this.

Ted held the 500 meter full size record with a revolver for at least a decade. He had shot 23x40 with his beloved octagon barreled F/A .44 mag. At Avenal, California after this year's LASC Extravaganza Ted, Dan Hagerty, Harry Sharp, Dan Bucks and I met to shoot 500 meters. Harry shot his F/A .357 mag and needed four rams to break Ted's record. As he was shooting his last bank of rams, Ted was standing there rooting him on. When he hit the fourth ram and it fell over, we all waited for him to finish, and then Ted went over and congratulated him on his success. Harry replied that he hoped he would be able to be as gracious when Ted took the record back. Harry told me he really felt Ted was delighted at his success.

Steve Ware added the following Ted story to this piece:
"My best Ted story revolves around the 1997 Internationals. One of Ted’s IHMSA promotions involved a bottle (OK several bottles) of Wild Turkey. Ted bought a bottle of Wild Turkey for each shooting class of every Standing event to raise some extra cash for IHMSA. Every shooter entering a Standing event could pony up an extra $5 & the person hitting the most turkeys got a bottle.
I entered Small Bore Standing B Class and tied a fellow shooter with some ridiculously low score of something like 12. I worried all night that I would be shooting against a 12 year old and lose. As it turned out, my opponent worried about the same thing the night before the shoot-offs. In the end, I won the bottle and a small trophy. The bottle is long gone, but I cherish the trophy!"

J.R. Ray exchanged spotting with Ted for more than twenty years. He added the following:
"I first met Ted when he and Crystal were at the 1991 Nationals, and I was introduced to his unique brand of humor. I got to know Ted better when he regularly attended the Nationals we held at LASC, and I got a chance to benefit from some of his spotting. I was impressed by his ability to convey information precisely and quickly while keeping me calm. When I decided to shoot the Internationals at Ft. Stockton in 2000, I asked Ted to shoot with me and he agreed. I wound up sweeping the 1/2 scale trophies and had a great time in spite of some miserable conditions. Ted and I began to shoot together pretty regularly after that and eventually found that he was the major reason I went to the big matches, just to enjoy his company. I could write on for days about my experiences with Ted. He was my friend, and I still can't accept the idea that he's gone."

I spoke on the phone for over an hour with Ted's son, TJ, who must have inherited the right genes from his father because he is the only person to shoot 80x80 half size iron sights at the Internationals in the morning, and then come back on the line in the afternoon with a scoped gun and shoot another 80x80 in half size. We talked and talked, and we discussed a lot of good old times in the good old days, but nothing came up that sounded right for this obituary. As I was about to say goodbye, as an after thought TJ told me a story that so totally captures who his dad was that it boggles my mind. He said this was the first thing that came to his mind when the sheriff told him his father was dead.

TJ was in high school. In the morning he went to a vocational tech school, and after lunch the school district put him on a bus and took him to the regular high school for academic classes. One day as he was getting off the bus at the regular high school with the principal looking right at him, which he did every day when the students arrived from the vocational school, TJ saw his father sitting in the parking lot with his boat on the trailer behind his truck. "What're you doing here?" asked TJ.
"I'm going fishing," replied Ted.
"Then why are you here instead of at the reservoir?"
"Do you think I'm going fishing alone?"
"You can't do that," said the principal.
"I'm his father," said Ted. "I can do whatever I want. My son looks sick. He looks to me like he has bass fever. He needs to go fishing."
The principal said, "You have to fill out a form…"
TJ looked at the principal as he was riding off and told him, "My dad doesn't do forms."
Ted spent his whole life doing what he wanted, when he wanted to do it, and he never hurt anyone while he was at it.

This evening I spoke with Ted's daughter, Crystal. One central part of Ted's identity in recent years was as the grandfather of Crystal's daughter, Sierra. Crystal told me that if there was one positive thing for her that came out of Ted's death it was the knowledge that nothing bad could happen to Sierra because from this day on she has a guardian angel watching over her every moment protecting her from anything that could harm her. I can see that. Ted was that kind of fellow, determined and vigilant. He will look out for her.

Rest In Peace Ted Zysk.

[KickBass]

Thank you so much for posting this, Steve. I was acquainted with Ted for just the last 3 years, and only really got to know him this year at the WCC and Intl's. I'm sure anybody that spent any time with him has some valuable thoughts and memories of the man, he truly was a great individual, and somebody that will be missed in IHMSA.

Though my interactions with Ted were limited, I do know this... in addition to all of his accomplishments as a shooter, he was one heck of a spotter, and was somebody that was always willing to help anybody. His laid back approach was so calming. I will certainly remember that aspect of Ted and apply it to my own life.

Joe Frey