Born: 08/13/1927
Manchester, Connecticut
Died: 07/14/2026
Underhill Center, Vermont
Details of service:
A Celebration of Life Memorial Service is planned for Ted on Saturday, August 29, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the St. Thomas Church Parish Hall on Green Street in Underhill Center. All welcome.
A Celebration of Life Memorial Service is planned for Ted on Saturday, August 29, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the St. Thomas Church Parish Hall on Green Street in Underhill Center.
Please come to remember Dad and say our good-byes to him among friends and family. And bring your memories to share!
Here is the Obituary that Dad — ever the journalist — filed away for us to use “when the time comes.”
Dad’s Obit — Walter Edward “Ted” Tedford of Underhill Center died on July 14, 2026, after a short illness. He was 98 years and 11 months old.
Ted was born at home in Manchester, Connecticut on August 13, 1927, the youngest of Walter and Margaret (McKinney) Tedford’s four children. Ted’s parents moved the family to Andover, Connecticut, in 1939 where he graduated from Andover Grammar School, and later from Windham High School in Willimantic, Connecticut, in 1945.
He immediately joined the Navy for four years, serving part of that time aboard the USS LST 512. Upon his discharge, he attended what was then Willimantic State Teachers College, now Eastern Connecticut State University. His college time was interrupted during the Korean War, when he was ordered back into the Navy in 1951 for one year, being discharged in 1952.
He returned to college, receiving his bachelor of science degree. But he wanted to be a reporter and was offered a job reporting for the afternoon daily newspaper, the Willimantic Chronicle. He later joined the Manchester Herald as state editor.
After five years, he moved to the Hartford Times as assistant state editor, then to the (Bergen) Record in Hackensack, New Jersey, as chief copy editor, and later as day editor in charge of the staff of reporters.
He moved his family to Milton in 1968, to serve as news editor at the Burlington Free Press, as editorial writer, and later as a reporter, retiring after 21 years. He immediately began writing news part time for the weekly Mountain Villager. When the paper was sold, Ted became editor, business manager and columnist for six years. When that paper’s owner ceased publication, Ted began writing for the Mountain Gazette, finally retiring after more than 50 years of editing and reporting news.
Back in 1956, Ted met the love of his life, Marie Flaim O’Brien. They were married a year later in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He and Marie were married for 66 years, bringing up six children.
While living in Connecticut, Ted served as a member, and one year as chairman, of the Coventry School Board and member of the Coventry Board of Welfare. In Underhill, he served six years and eight months as a member of the Underhill Selectboard and was a member of the Underhill Historical Society. He and friend Grant Corson founded the Jericho-Underhill Marching and Chowder Society Writers Group, still meeting weekly in Jericho.
While at the Burlington Free Press, Ted’s three-part series, “Aging in Vermont” was published. He received a first-place award from the New England Press Association. He wrote a book, “Incident at St. Albans,” which was published by The Tamarac Press. He was writing short stories right up to the time of his death.
During his first newspaper job as a novice, his editor instructed him to “write tight,” meaning convey the news in his stories in as few words as possible. This obituary sticks to that.
