As a Marine, Ted Groszkiewicz stormed the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and witnessed war at its worst.

But in 1957, with those battlefield horrors behind him, he was serving a tour of duty in occupied Japan when he suddenly became enchanted with Japanese culture and one of its most graceful traditions.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

'People would bring in their trees for him to critique and get advice from him,' said fellow bonsai enthusiast Dr. Bob Gilbert about Ted Groszkiewicz, who grew bonsai trees for over 30 years.

"I saw azaleas growing as bonsai, and I went crazy," he said in a 1994 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. "I traveled from one end of the [Japanese] island to the other. The Japanese are fantastic gardeners. Their azaleas were just beautiful."

Mr. Groszkiewicz had always harbored a creative side, but the tiny trees inspired a special fascination. He was determined to learn how to cultivate them and achieve a Zen-like balance of leaf and flower.

"He fell in love with Japan and the beauty of that area," said his daughter, Sue Groszkiewicz of Marietta. "And he thought of bonsai-growing as an art form all its own."

The memorial service for Thaddeus "Ted" Groszkiewicz, 87, is 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Smith-Gilbert Arboretum in Kennesaw. Mr. Groszkiewicz died of complications from bladder cancer April 19 at his Marietta residence. The body was cremated. Cremation Society of the South, Marietta, is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Groszkiewicz, who was born in Warsaw, Poland, was 6 months old when his family moved to New York City, where "all I saw was pavement and asphalt," he said in the same article.

He studied art at the Pratt Institute and drew Disney cartoons before he started his military career, retiring from the Marines in 1969.

By then, his brother-in-law had shown him the basics of bonsai growing.

Mr. Groszkiewicz moved to Atlanta, worked for S&K Sales until 1979, then threw himself into horticulture.

He built a greenhouse, transformed his yard into a botanical showcase, experimented with hybridizing azaleas and grew more than 100 azalea, boxwood, juniper and other bonsai plants in ceramic pots he made in his basement.

He organized bonsai clubs, wrote newsletter articles, mastered photography and stockpiled gardening books.

"He was a thorough researcher," his daughter said. "And bonsai growing is quite technical. He learned about special tools, special wire, special soil, all of it."

"Ted was very understated, so you really didn't know that he'd gone to Pratt or been a Marine," said fellow bonsai enthusiast Dr. Bob Gilbert of Kennesaw.

"But he loved to share his knowledge with our bonsai club," Dr. Gilbert said. "People would bring in their trees for him to critique and get advice from him, and he would explain how to manage them and make better trees out of them."

Teaching came naturally to Mr. Groszkiewicz. When he volunteered to give computer classes at a Cobb County senior center, he had a knack for breaking down complex topics into practical tidbits.

As his wife's health began to fail, Mr. Groszkiewicz gleaned recipes from the Internet, taught himself to cook and learned to make a mean lasagna. And he became something of a wine connoisseur, even though he could never bring himself to pay more than $15 a bottle.

"There was nothing opulent about my dad," his daughter said. "He was very practical, which went along with his common sense approach to life."

Mr. Groszkiewicz never returned to Poland, but contact with his relatives there inspired him to appreciate every opportunity America afforded him, his daughter said. "To him, there was so much to be celebrated," she said. "He was like my barometer. He constantly reminded me to get out of life all that you possibly can."

Survivors other than his daughter include his wife of 65 years, Annie Groszkiewicz of Marietta; two sons, Ted Groszkiewicz of Kensington, Calif., and Rick Groszkiewicz of Marietta; and four grandchildren.