Ted S. Rybicki, Sr. 88, of Lynn Haven, passed away on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. He was born in 1931 in Center Moriches, a small haven on Long Island, New York; one of six
children to Paul Rybicki and Sophia Wozniak Rybicki, both of whom were immigrants
from Poland. After living a youth comprised of Huckleberry Finn type adventures, full of
harmless mischief and shenanigans, Ted joined the US Air Force. He was stationed in
Alaska during the Korean War, and also at Eglin AFB in northwest Florida. After an
honorable discharge from the military, he enrolled at Florida State University in
Tallahassee, and received a degree in journalism. It was also there at FSU that he met
his wife of fifty-six years, Rena Jane McBride, of Panama City. It should be noted that
Ted and Rena corresponded with each other for six months as pen pals, prior to Ted
arriving at FSU. Rena pre-deceased her husband in 2012. They are survived by one
son, Ted Jr.
After Ted and Rena graduated from FSU, they moved to his hometown on Long Island.
Ted worked with a local public relations and advertising firm. When his immediate boss
decided to move to central Florida to open his own PR agency, he invited Ted to come
work for him. Ted accepted, and moved his family to the Orlando area. He had a home
constructed for him and his family on Lake Brantley, in Longwood, and frequently
enjoyed the leisure activities of boating, sailing, and water-skiing.
Ted stayed in the PR business, eventually working for many years in that sector with the
natural gas pipeline company Florida Gas, and then was recruited to become Director of
the Orlando Chamber of Commerce. It was there that he organized "The World's
Largest Party", which was posted in the Guinness Book of World Records. Afterwards,
he became Vice President of Public Relations and Internal Communications for Sun
Bank in Orlando (prior to the bank's merger and becoming SunTrust). Yet because
Rena's mother was ailing, Ted took early retirement from Sun Bank so they could move
to the Panama City area, permitting his wife to be near her mother. They settled at the
Panama Country Club in Lynn Haven, and quickly became an integral part of the golfing
community and social circuit there.
Ted was an affable person, who greatly enjoyed working with people, with a keen love
for history, bird watching, and nature in general. One of his first projects at PCC was to
have bird houses installed along the edges of the fairways. He was a supporter of the
Audubon Society, the Florida Conservation organization, and a proud veteran. A memorial service will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Wilson Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Steve Taylor officiating.