Stelian Ovidiu Nastea

stelian nastea
Born in Lehliu, Ialomita County, Romania on January 7, 1926

Departed on January 20, 2016 in Fairfax, VA

Visitation: Sunday Jan 24, 2016

Cemetery: Iancu Nou, Bucharest, Romania

Stelian O. Nastea, Ph.D., retired, age 90, of Bucharest, Romania, died Wednesday, January 20, 2016, at home in Fairfax, VA, of acute congestive heart failure. Beloved husband of Eugenia Nastea (dec. December 24, 2011); devoted father of Sorin Nastea; grandfather of Bogdan and Katerina Nastea; brother of Mina G. Enciu.

Stelian (Ticu, as called by family, or Stelica, as called by friends and colleagues) was born on January 7, 1926 in Lehliu, Ialomita County, Romania, on the Danube River, where he spent most of his childhood. He graduated from "Stirbei Voda" High School in Calarasi in 1945. After high school, he started to work for the Ministry of Finance in Bucharest while attending college with a focus on finance. In 1949, he became eligible to continue his finance studies in the former Soviet Union but he decided to switch to agricultural studies, for which he had developed a passion as a child while spending his school vacations at his uncle's farm. He never regretted this decision. He enrolled in the Department of Pedology, or soil science, at the University of Agriculture in Harkow, now in Ukraine. He learned the Russian and Ukrainian languages and he remembered fondly his field work on the Ukrainian steppe and the infinitely starred sky. He graduated with a degree in Pedology in 1955. After school, he started working for the General Cadastral Office. In 1957, he transferred to the Romanian Academy of Agriculture where he took over as head of the Pedology Service. He established pedology research labs not only within the Academy, but also in the other major academic centers in the country. One of his and his team's early successes was to map the soils throughout the country, which was a work of reference for future research and agricultural activity planning. He continued to lead the pedology laboratory during his entire career, with numerous research endeavors collaborating with the other centers in the country and in neighboring countries. In later years, the scope of his work expanded to combat soil and water pollution, particularly from over-industrialization of certain areas, and he was often called to provide expert testimony in pollution lawsuits. In 1977, he obtained his Ph.D. in Pedology for research that spanned 8 years of field work, soil sampling, chemistry lab work, and of conducting detailed experiments. He retired in 1993. He and his wife helped raise their grandson, Bogdan, and later he also helped raise their granddaughter, Katerina in the U.S. He joined his son's family in the U.S. in early 2012 after the passing of his wife of 54 years, Eugenia.

A viewing will be held on Monday, January 25th beginning at 2:00 PM at Money & King Funeral Home, 171 W. Maple Ave., Vienna, VA 22180. The burial will be held in Bucharest, Romania, after repatriation of his body.

Funeral Home:

Money & King Funeral Home

171 W. Maple Ave.

Vienna, VA

US 22180

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