Andrzej Stanislaw Gutek

Dr. Andrzej Stanislaw Gutek, my loving husband, died Saturday, May 30, 2015, doing what he loved – working outside in the yard. Unfortunately, he passed away 37 years too early. We were supposed to get old together (our goal was to reach at least 100). He was mowing the grass, taking breaks now and then. On his last break he had a heart attack, while resting on the porch's stone floor that we laid together. I was in the living room watching TV and working on the computer when Andrzej stuck his head in the door to say he only had 10 more minutes of mowing to do. When he didn't come in, I eventually went looking for him. I couldn't believe what I saw. I called 911, but he had died at least a half hour earlier. Andrzej had chest pains for the past few months but was convinced it was his sternum causing the pain, because it can hurt after strenuous exercise, which he did. Andrzej was my best friend, partner, and collaborator. We helped each other work on the house that we designed and planned (in the Austin Bottom Community) to finish someday in the far off future. Born and educated in Poland, he was invited to teach math in California. While there, the Solidarity movement happened, so he stayed in the US, eventually finding his way to the Tennessee Tech's Math Department. He just retired last year. Andrzej is survived by me, Dr. Carol Ventura of Baxter; his step-daughter, Ilsy May (Ventura) Chappell and son-in-law, Dr. Jon Chappell and their twins, Hudson Chappell and Sienna Chappell of Raleigh, NC; and his father, Stanislaw Gutek, of Bielsko-Biala, Poland; and his sister, Dobroslawa Wozniak of Lodz, Poland. Andrzej did not want a viewing or memorial service. Instead he wished to be remembered alive and well, cracking his wordplay jokes that were on occasion funny. In lieu of flowers or other thoughtful gifts, please donate to the Stanley Dolzycki Memorial Scholarship that was set up in remembrance of his friend, another great Polish mathematician who also taught at TTU.