A. Theodore Halsted, Jr. died on Jan. 26 at 95 years of age.
Ted Halsted was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on May 28, 1927. The son of a Methodist pastor, he grew up in several towns in western Michigan. He graduated from Cadillac High School and DePauw University, then served as a missionary in south India from 1949 to 1952. His experiences there inspired a global outlook that continued throughout his life. In India he met Marceline Louise Smith, whom he married in 1953 while a student at Yale Divinity School. Ted served as United Methodist minister in various Detroit Conference parishes (Dixboro, Dexter, Hemlock, Marlette, Lincoln Park, and Redford) and then as Marquette District Superintendent, retiring to Kalamazoo in 1992. Ted served as volunteer associate pastor at Westwood UMC. In 2001 he and Marcy moved to Friends Fellowship Community in Richmond, Indiana.
Love, inclusion, and social justice were, for Ted, the heart of the gospel. He expressed this by working for racial justice, participating in service projects at home and abroad, and endowing educational funds for students in India and Zimbabwe, and Anishinaabe in northern Michigan. Over the decades, many international students lived in the Halsted home as part of the family.
Ted loved music, singing tenor in church choirs, playing violin in the Richmond Community Orchestra, and attending concerts.
He appreciated the outdoors, particularly Lake Louise in Michigan, where his family built a modest cabin in the 1930s. He donated generously to make it possible for others, especially children, to enjoy nature.
Ted will be lovingly remembered for his gentle wit, his faith-filled optimism, his thoughtful writing, and his bread baking. He is survived by his daughters Gwen Halsted (Michael Birkel) and Carolyn Halsted, grandchildren Anna Margaret (Emmanuel) Greene and Jonathan Birkel (Erin Stone), great-granddaughter Louisa, and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Ted’s life will be held on Saturday, February 11, at 1:30pm at First Friends Meeting, 2010 Chester Boulevard, Richmond, Indiana.
Gifts in Ted’s memory may be given to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), 458 Ponce De Leon Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. www.umcor.org Condolences may be sent to the family via the guest book at www.doanmillsfuneralhome.com.