Roll Call Tribute

Edward Kolodziej, Jr. 

July 31, 1948 - February 20, 2025 

Edward Kolodziej, Jr. was born on July 31, 1948 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to Eddie and Margaret (Pilarczyk) Kolodziej. He was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church on August 8, 1948. He attended elementary school at Corpus Christi Cathedral. His family moved to San Antonio where he attended San Jose Mission school for three years. He graduated from Corpus Christi Academy High School 1966; and attended Christopher College—his 14th year in Catholic schools.

He graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate’s degree, then graduated from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 1970 with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. His post-graduate (Master’s) studies in Finance were at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, The University of Michigan School of Business, and The University of Texas at Dallas.

He and Annamarie Krieg were married on May 15, 1971 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi. They were married for 53 years plus 9 months. Eddie and Annamarie met on graduation night at Del Mar College in 1968. When he went on to College Station, and Annamarie went to Austin, Eddie (and many other young men) hitchhiked to the UT campus in Austin on Friday after school was out. On one occasion, he had to stay on Saturday to take the GRE test, and he hitchhiked on Sunday morning. Traffic was very light. He had to walk a ways. Then he was picked up by a man who discretely asked where was Eddie going? Austin, where in Austin? the UT campus, where on campus? The Lutheran Church. The man said, he was too! The driver was indeed, the pastor in church that morning.

In July 1970 Eddie started his electrical engineering career at Central Power & Light, Corpus Christi. A month later, Hurricane Celia damaged south Texas cities and destroyed power lines. During the emergency repair work, Eddie carried meals by helicopter to grateful (very hungry!) workers who were laboring repairing power lines. Among other essential repairs that year was a transmission line underwater across Corpus Christi Bay. Eddie was the project engineer in charge of building it. Later on he worked in the Planning Department, making analyses of where power plants and transmission lines should be built in the far future.

The family moved to Dallas in 1978 when Eddie began work for Central & South West Services. He traveled extensively in the U.S. for CSWS. For two years his projects were in Mexico City. In 1996 he became Director of the European business for CSW International. He worked from his London, England office, with power industry management people, notably in England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Turkey. He was preparing to move to London with Annamarie and Angelyn (who was a sophomore in high school and had been accepted to the American School in Cobham, Surrey), when suddenly the entire company was bought out by another power company. He had a choice, whether to move to Ohio to work for the new company. Considering his family, aging parents and children, he chose to remain in Texas. He served CPL, CSWS and CSWI a total of 35 years.

For two years afterwards, among other “odd jobs” he consulted for power companies and served as expert witness on behalf of a power company. Eventually he went to work for a young and flourishing Philadelphia, PA company, Customized Energy Solutions. It was a happy match. On behalf of CES he attended and reviewed meetings in Austin, TX of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Eddie retired in 2013 from CES, and his retirement banquet was held in Philadelphia, the end of an exceptional career, which enabled him to make friends all over the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

Eddie and Annamarie have three children, Benjamin, born in Corpus Christi and married to Carrie (Sanford), from Richardson TX; Bryce, born in Dallas, from Houston TX; and Angelyn, born in Plano and married to Pastor Jay Hobson, from Skiatook, Oklahoma. The four Hobson grandchildren are Julius, Amelia, Ezra and Lydia.

Eddie’s great joy in his family started early in life, as the oldest of seven children. His siblings are Leon (Carol) Kolodziej, Melvin Kolodziej, Michael Kolodziej, Mary Frazier (Jim), Elaine Anastasio (Michael), and Darlene Noll (Tony). Eddie’s parents Eddie Kolodziej, Sr. and Margaret Kolodziej, predeceased him. Eddie also dearly loved Annamarie’s family, and he supported all her efforts on behalf of family history on all sides of the family. They have many nephews and nieces all over the U.S. 

Eddie was Catholic for his first 51 years. He was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in 1999. He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church and served as a joyful, faithful elder there for almost 20 years.

Eddie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2017. He was an active participant in Parkinson’s Voice Project of Richardson and diligently attended frequent voice classes in person and (after Covid) online, until he couldn’t anymore. Anchor of Hope Hospice cared for him at Grand Brook of Garland/ Richardson. Sadly, Eddie succumbed to complications of Parkinson’s Disease on February 20, 2025. Many thanks are due to the caring staffs of hospice and Grand Brook, as well as at Sunrise of Plano, throughout his final two years’ battle with Parkinson’s.

A visitation for Edward will be held Friday, February 28, 2025 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Ted Dickey Funeral Home, 2128 18th Street, Plano, TX. A funeral service will occur Saturday, March 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Faith Lutheran Church, 1701 E Park Blvd, Plano, TX. A graveside service will follow at Plano Mutual Cemetery, 2128 18th St, Plano, TX.