Theodore James Martines

Theodore James Martines (Ted), 93, passed away on January 25th after a long battle with cancer. Ted was born in Brooklyn, NY, to Theodore and Catherine. He was very close to his older sister Dolores, who eventually married and moved to Rhode Island. Ted attended St. Rose of Lima Grammer school, loved to play stickball, studied piano and loved to ride the coney island trolley. He later took the subway to Brooklyn Technical High School. In the summers he interned with his Godfather Peter Tragni, working as an electrician. He loved the school dances and parties in the neighborhood. Ted’s social life continued into college, enjoying parties with his fraternity. He attended Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, living on campus and learning how to budget his weekly allowance. He spent summers in semi-professional jobs, and meeting his future wife, Diana, through his mother’s work connections. Diana exposed him to Greek culture through her large, Greek-American family. In 1955, Ted was commissioned in the US Navy. He married Diana Contovasilis in 1957, and they started their family with the birth of their first child, Jeanne, in 1959. Their son, Ted, was born in 1960, followed by Barbara in 1962. Ted and Diana hosted many big, Greek, family holidays at their house on Long Island. Ted loved history and was very proud of having put together two volumes of family history dating back to 1810. He has left it up to the grandchildren and extended family members to continue. After serving in the Navy and working for an international company, Ted joined Grumman Aerospace on Long Island and eventually became a Director of Contracts. He was part of the team that contracted with NASA to build the lunar module which landed on the moon in 1969. Ted retired from Grumman and started his second career as Vice-President and co-founder of CPI Aerostructures, a public company. After moving to Florida in 1999, Ted became an active member of the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion and the Grumman Retiree’s Club-Manisota Chapter. He served as President of Misty Creek HOA in Sarasota. One of the highlights of being part of the Misty Creek Country Club was his Hole-In-One on January 23, 2006. Ted and Diana were married for 68 years. He is survived by wife Diana, his 3 children, Jeanne, Ted and Barbara, and 5 grandchildren, with one great-grandchild on the way. There will be a Memorial Service on Wednesday, February 4th at 11 am at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 5394 Midnight Pass Road, Sarasota. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date.

Tributes

Theodore James Martines

January 25, 2026