Obituary of Igor "Bogdan" Yatzevich

Igor “Bogdan” Yatzevich, longtime resident of Burlington, passed away peacefully in his place of residence, on October 31, 2024.  He was 88 years old. Born in Baranowicze, Poland on August 25, 1936.  Received his Bachelor’s degree in electronics from Polytechnic University of Gdansk, Poland in 1961.

He escaped from communist Poland to England; worked at the British Communications Co.  In 1967, he was invited by General Electric Company to work in USA, as a Design Engineer, Microwave Section.  He remained in Lynchburg, later in Norfolk, Virginia for 17 years.  After 1985, he worked at the RCA as RF and Microwave Consultant and received the “Outstanding Performance Engineering Achievement Award” for Design/Implementation of Fiber-Optic Wideband Network.

While in Burlington Bogdan continued as an electronics consultant, doing independent research on microwave systems.  Known as an “instrument man”  due to his lifetime hobby of collecting electronic instruments for various private research projects.  This activity continued into his later years.

Bogdan is survived by his brother, George Jacewicz, M.D. of East Greenwich, Rhode Island who loved and respected him enormously; his nephew, George Kalish-Jacewicz of Cranston, RI and his children, Charlie & Caitlyn who loved him very much.  Bogdan was predeceased by his parents, Michal and Zofia Jacewicz of Poland and USA.

He was an energetic and motivated individual, who managed to divide his time with community organizations, visiting family and traveling.  He also found time to obtain additional education in modern electronics at the Old Dominion University.  His knowledge was vast and he earned respect from his peers.  As a naturalized USA citizen, he was always grateful for the acceptance he received as a foreigner, frequently expressing his love for his adopted country.

Bogdan will be remembered for his constant pursuit of independence, being a  dreamer, avid technophile, and teacher. He spent his life his own way, writing his own rules.