Terry Nathan Terrance

Terry Terrance was born to parents Peter Terrance and Rosa Mae (Parent) Terrance in New York City’s Lower East Side, and he grew up in that area. His early interests centered around astronomy and science, electronics, model railroading, hunting, scuba diving, and camping, most of which became lifelong hobbies. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Columbia University in New York City, and, later in his working career, an MBA from the University of New Haven in Connecticut.

While at Columbia University he played on the college’s football team; he also became involved in the Columbia University Rifle Team; afterwards he was for many years that college’s Rifle Team Head Coach. He also taught astronomy on the college level as an adjunct.

Terry was employed in engineering applications such as avionics, as a computer systems and design hardware and software specialist, and Defense Contracts specialist throughout the period from the 1980s through 2016 for companies such as Singer, Sikorsky Aircraft, BAE Systems, SAIC, and Raytheon Technologies. He was known and respected for his expertise in both the Defense Contracting community and among military contacts as well.

Terry was extremely knowledgeable in many disciplines, and was regarded as an ‘answer man’ by his family and friends regarding questions related to auto and home repair, topics in science and its applications, firearms, hunting, and model railroading. He was passionate about Second Amendment rights and was a firearms instructor for many years. He brought his expertise with computers to the model-railroading community, and he authored a number of articles for various model railroading magazines.

He is survived by his wife, Carol Surdukowski, and three children, Elizabeth, Peter, and Christine Terrance; his son-in-law, Daniel Conforti; his brother, Kevin Terrance; his sister and brother-in-law, Grace Ann and Steven Schmidt; and his niece and nephew, Jessica and Paul Schmidt.

A mass of Christian burial for Terry will be held Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Calvary Hill Main Mausoleum North Chapel, 3235 Lombardy Ln, Dallas, Texas 75220. Following the mass will be a committal service at 3:00 PM at Calvary Hill Cemetery.