Penn Athletics was saddened to learn of the September 26 passing of Jack Tichacek after a heroic battle with lung cancer. He was 63.
 
Tichacek was a four-year letter winner for the University of Pennsylvania men's fencing program from 1975-78 and remains one of its most decorated alums. A member of Penn's foil squad during his career, Tichacek was an NCAA Championships finalist in 1975 who earned first-team All-America in 1975 and 1977 and second-team All-America in 1978. He also was a three-time first-team All-Ivy honoree. Tichacek graduated from Penn in 1978 with a degree in electrical engineering.
 
"Jack was very strong and extremely fast, but he preferred to outsmart opponents and draw them into errors rather than dominate physically with his speed," said Dave Micahnik, who recruited Tichacek to Penn and was his coach with the Quakers. "The USA National Team captain once described Jack as fencing not with first intention or second intention, but with 'deep ulterior motive.'
 
"The first varsity dual meet I coached at Penn was against Rutgers. It was 13-13 and came down to the last bout. Jack was in the anchor spot, and I told him that I had put him there because I knew he could handle it. He had lost his first two bouts but he said to me, 'OK…but let me do it my way.' The bout went back and forth to 4-4, next touch for the win. The Rutgers fencer attacked, Jack evaded him, and then Jack scored a touch to clinch the meet. Why do I remember it so clearly after all these years? It was my first meet as Penn's coach, and you only get one chance to win your first meet!"
 
Tichacek was a member of some of Micahnik's most outstanding fencing teams at Penn. The Quakers won the Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) Three-Weapon and Ivy League championships each of his last three years, from 1976-78, and he was a member of the IFA's top foil group in 1976 and 1977.
 
"I went to a big annual high school individual tournament to scout," said Micahnik. "Robert 'RH' Wolfson placed first in foil and Jack placed second. They fenced nothing alike, other than both being lefties, but they knew how to win. Happily, both of them came to Penn as part of my first recruiting class. They became the core of our dominant foil team for four years, joined first by Steve Gross and later by Rich Berlin."
 
Following graduation, Tichacek continued to fence at the international level. He was a member of the United States' silver-medal team at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela and served as first alternate for the U.S. Olympic teams in 1984 and 1988. A two-time gold medalist at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Tichacek served as Vice President for the United States Fencing Association (USFA) from 1988-92.
 
Tichacek spent 35 years as a Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor at RBC Wealth Management. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and his sons, Kyle and Matt.
 
Memorial donations in Jack's memory may be made to Mary's Place by the Sea (https://www.marysplacebythesea.org/), P.O. Box 86, Ocean Grove, N.J. 07756.