Ted was always doing something for someone everyday. If a neighbor needed help moving he was there, He has bought food for homeless people he’s come across, talked his friends out of dark times and always made sure his family was ok. He wasn’t without his flaws of course. He used to get into fights and drank too much some days. But he was always there when you needed him most.
One time his friend got wasted at a bar he was having a beer at. Ted got his friend sent home in a cab and Ted took his car back to his place so he didn’t get a ticket or towed. Unfortunately, he was pulled over by the police in front of our house and got a DUI. He always put others before himself no matter what it cost him.
His wildest days started coming to an end when he started working at the Cheesecake Factory. He started as a part-time line cook and soon became full time. In 2 1/2 years, ted became a 5-star chef within the company. Then after that, he started training to become a kitchen manager.
When he got his promotion he was transferred from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. In Cleveland Ted continued to climb up to higher Kitchen Manager positions. Eventually, he got handpicked to be one of the kitchen managers to run the first Canadian Cheesecake Factory in Toronto. Pittsburgh was always in his heart though. He’d come back for opening day every year for the Pirates, watch or listen to every Steelers game or stream Pens games and force his staff to watch. One time when we went to a Pirates game he ran laps around the stadium getting the wave going and wore a MLB logo beach blanket like a cape as he did it. His friends told us later that he was mentioned on the radio for it. We always joked that he could sniff out anything black and gold no matter what city he was in. Turners tea and Primantis was staple whenever he came to town.
There was never a day wasted with Ted. No matter how tired he was either helping someone or spending time with people he loved. After everything he has done he finally got the chance to go on one of his dream vacations. He always wanted to go to Jamaica, He brought his girlfriend Andrea with him.
On Nov 2nd Ted passed away in Jamaica. His boss Matt contacted our sister Betty about setting up a GoFundMe. Matt created it on the 3rd and was fully funded on the 4th. There were people who haven’t seen him in 10 years donating because he helped them years ago. Ted has touched so many lives and never once did he give up on anyone. He had a favorite quote from the show Doctor Who that sums him up pretty well.
We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know, it was the best.
From Dakota: When I was in high school Ted’s room got infested with yellow jackets. It got that way because we weren’t sure if they were coming in through his screen door. After we found out it was in his ceiling our mom went out to get foggers and anything else she could to kill them. When she got home we called Ted to let him know we were going into his room to kill them. He asked us to wait a couple hours for him to get home. So we waited and he arrived home… plastered as all hell. We got outside his screen door and he started screaming for me, I was standing next to him. “Cody! Cody where are you?! OH! There you are! Go get me a wet rag so I can go in.” He said all this while stumbling back and forth. My mom started getting worried about him. His exact phrase was “Well those fuckers should be worried for when I go in!” I figured once any of us set our minds to something best of luck stopping us. I brought his rag. He went in and immediately uppercut the ceiling tile, activated a fogger and chucked it in like a grenade. Then he sealed it back up and got the other fogger going. Next Ted flailed about fighting a swarm of yellow jackets with a fogger. He would do about 10 to 15 minute intervals in there fighting them. Around the 5th or 6th round the foggers were gone and he was shirtless bare knuckle boxing the remaining bees. After he finished he passed out on the living room sofa. When he woke up the next day not only did he not have a single sting mark on his body but there was over 200 dead bees on the floor in his room. This is the best Ted story I know.
From Patrick: When I was young Ted took me and Chris to the park. He made us have a bunch of competitions. Like we did pull ups and push ups, then we raced and after we was done with that we played baseball for awhile. Then we went back to yinz house in West View where we played video games until we fell asleep.
From Dan: He invited me and John to Cleveland. Ted said that we had nothing to do so lets find a bar. We walked down the block till we heard music. We walked in and this hair metal band in full spandex is playing. So we watch and then they said we’re the best Def Leppard cover band in Cleveland. Me and Ted lose our shit. He leaned in grabbed me by the shoulder and we just started laughing harder. About ten mins later John runs out the bathroom saying we got to go. He apparently insulted the band in the bathroom telling them he thought their joke cover band was great. They did not think they were a joke cover band. So as we exited quickly we cut through some parking lot where Ted told John to steal the balloons for grand opening. They were all pink and he stood there holding the balloons. Ted, with a camel cigarette hanging out of his mouth, started screaming I have a pretty little girl, I have a pretty little girl. So after we left that mess Ted heard a turkey. He looked and found a pen on his neighbor’s lawn a house away from his apartment. Ted decides we’re going to have turkey and storms the lawn. Until I was like I’m not helping you steal your neighbor’s turkey. I’m sorry it’s not happening he did abandon the venture and our night ended with John and Ted singing the entire album of Appetite for Destruction word-for-word into the wee hours of the morning. I bet he could have cooked that turkey out to be something amazing though.