Theodore A. Haapala Jr., a retired information services engineer and Navy veteran, died of heart failure July 24 at Memorial Hospital in Easton. The Greensboro, Caroline County, resident was 66.

Mr. Haapala was born in Worcester, Mass., and spent his early years in Maynard, Mass., and Ipswich, N.H. He later moved to the Eastern Shore, where he graduated from Preston High School in 1959.

During his 20-year naval career, he served as a chief petty officer aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Virginia.

After leaving the service in 1979, he earned a bachelor's degree from New York Regent University and a master's degree from the University of Phoenix.

Until retiring in 2004, Mr. Haapala was an information engineer in Baltimore with Honeywell Corp. and Computer Science Corp.

The former Baltimore resident was a member of American Legion Caroline Post 0029, the Fleet Reserve in Annapolis and the Knights of Kaleva.

He enjoyed fishing and contributing articles to Crosswinds Magazine, an Eastern Shore publication. He also liked visiting Finland, his family's homeland.

Services are private.

Surviving are his wife of 15 years, the former Cheryl Hlaston; a son, Theodore A. Haapala III of Preston; a daughter, Karen M. Bennett of Preston; three brothers, Kenneth Haapala of Fairfax, Va., Jonathan Hangas of Grosse Point, Mich., and Arno Hangas Jr. of Fitchburg, Mass.; and four grandchildren.