Ted Vargas loves to tell the story of how he arrived in Alaska in January 1988, without a hat and only a sweatshirt to keep himself warm. Soon after, he began working for NMS as a cook’s helper at the BOC on the North Slope, and by that time, he was wearing the required extreme weather gear, of course.
During his years working on the Slope, Ted evolved into an imaginative, creative and talented cook. His food displays became legendary, especially during the holidays. Ted is an avid traveler and always enjoyed sharing foods from Central America and other regions he’d visited. In a nod to his Mexican heritage, Ted referred to his creativity in the kitchen as “Mexican ingenuity.”
Much loved by his coworkers, Ted is the kind of guy that always pitched-in, asking how he could help, even at the end of the day when his own shift was nearly complete. Respected as a team player, Ted enjoyed being a productive and supportive member of the NMS team.
Ted held various positions at NMS throughout the years, moving to a housekeeping lead in the ’90s and arriving at Endicott as the lead housekeeper in 2012 – a role he held until last month, when he decided to retire.
Back when Ted’s three children were young and still living at home, his wife, Yolanda, would pick him up at the airport in the family motorhome, and they’d hit the road, fishing and camping together on his R&R. Now that his children are grown, Ted loves sharing adventures with his grandchildren.
Retirement for Ted means more time with family. He and Yolanda moved to Florida, and now, instead of wild Alaska adventures, Ted is cultivating bananas, relaxing to Latin music and splashing with his grandchildren in the backyard pool.
