Ted E. Felton

Ted Eugene Felton, born July 15, 1937 in Evanston, IL to Olga Ann (Halun) Felton and Eugene Edward Felton, passed peacefully on Friday, June 11, 2021, at National Park Medical Center in Hot Springs, AR.

Ted graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, NY in 1955. He served as an Army paratrooper from 1956-1958, then received his bachelor’s in business administration from Rider College in Lawrence, NJ in 1962. Ted married Juanita Lundsten on December 24, 1962, with whom he had two children. He was widowed November 7, 1997. He married Carmen LeAnn Jensen on May 13, 2003.

Besides his wife, he leaves a daughter, Lisa Ann Felton of Hot Springs, AR; a son, Edward T Felton, his wife, Agnieszka Zarnowska, and their two sons, Redi and Roen of Port Ewen, NY; seven stepdaughters, Melissa Hale, Jennifer Hale, Christina Hale, Andrea Hale, Elizabeth Hale, Amanda Hale, and Jessica Hale; two stepsons, Matthew Hale, and Bryan Hale; a sister-in-law, Patricia (Lundsten) Loucks of Otis, MA; and a beloved cousin, Hilary Hopkins of Cambridge, MA.

Ted’s community connections in later life were with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Ouachita Sportsmen’s Association, the Hot Springs Photography Club, and the Arkansas Pen Club.

Ted’s childhood was full of adventures large and small. Hunting and shooting, boating & fishing, camping, photography, science & engineering… All these things involved gear and technology, which he loved. He made sure he had all the latest gear for every endeavor. He became expert in every pursuit. He studied manuals cover-to-cover, but those manuals weren’t sufficient for him. He’d find and absorb extensive literature on every topic, tool, instrument, device, software platform, etc. Friends and colleagues would turn to him for guidance on the many topics he was known to master. Those topics went well beyond his artistic and technical pursuits. He reveled in history, philosophy, physics & astronomy.

That spectrum of skill and knowledge comprised the features of a man whose foundation was built of humility, discipline, and dignity. Ted was the personification of discipline, and he was fundamentally humble. He never tried to tell others what or how to think. He never suggested that he had all the answers or the right answers. He listened more than he spoke. He was unfailingly polite and courteous. He was respectful to women throughout his life, appalled by any gesture or expression that diminished them.

Ted identified as an artist from a young age. He won scholarships and awards throughout his school years. After graduating from Rider College, he began full-time work at the Garcia Corporation, and married Juanita “Peri” Lundsten the same year. Working at Garcia (where his father had been working for over a decade,) was a dream job, combining hunting, shooting, fishing, and skiing with art and design. He worked on Sports Afield magazine, the Garcia Annual publication, and other publicity materials. His graphic design work extended into product fonts and logos. His sharp and simple aesthetic is exemplified by his design of the logo on Head skis: a dot on the tip of the ski. (The now familiar Head logo retains his dot, with the addition of the arc to simulate the tip of a ski. He also designed fonts for Rossignol that are still in use.)

In the Garcia years Ted’s family grew and flourished. His daughter Lisa was born in 1966, and his son Edward in 1970. He and Peri provided them with a wonderful and loving childhood. Ted’s parenting style was passive. He may have been trying to bend the stick in the other direction, feeling that his own father was too strict and made too many of his decisions for him. This meant that Lisa and Edward were given enough rope to hang themselves. But that is better than being on a leash, and the independence proved to be a great gift.

Ted’s dream job came to an unfortunate end in 1977 when missteps by Garcia’s chief officer forced the company into bankruptcy. After a few years of freelance work, Ted began full-time work as the Manufacturing Director at Hearst Magazines. In the decade that followed, the appeal of suburban-metropolitan commuter life wore off. He yearned for a life closer to the outdoor pursuits he loved. In 1991 he put in his notice at Hearst, stunning his work and community peers by moving from the suburbs of NY City to rural Arkansas, where he went to vocational school for marine engine repair and started a business, Old Bear Marine. Back in NY, he was seen as a sort of folk hero by some, who were thinking: “You can do that? You can leave the rat race and escape metropolitan stress before retirement?”

Ted and Peri’s first years in Arkansas were blissful and celebratory. Ted lived in a hunting and fishing destination rather than having to travel to one. He loved road trips and Peri loved visiting new places. They built their dream home and enjoyed living and traveling together. Peri referred to their new life as a “permanent vacation.”

Old Bear Marine had to wane as Peri’s health declined from emphysema. In November 1997, after 34 years of marriage, Peri passed away at 58. Ted started teaching photography and web design at Garland County Community College in 1999. Despite the satisfaction he gained from teaching, his daughter Lisa living nearby, and frequent long visits to and from his son Edward, the loss of Peri left him withering away. The volume of his voice progressively lowered, and his posture wilted.

Ted was not the kind of person to go out and meet someone new. Fortunately for him and everyone who loves him, Peri’s best friend Carmen came into his life. The lights of his life were turned back on by their mutual love and support. Ted and Carmen married in May 2003. His teaching became a great source of fulfillment as his photography practice thrived and his lifelong artist identity blossomed like never before. He retired from teaching around 2015 and embraced a dignified and serene full retirement. But the pursuits didn’t end. Ted connected, in his usual encyclopedic way, to a pillar of the family history: pens and pencils. His father, Eugene “Gene” Edward Felton, started his career in the 1930’s with Wahl-Eversharp. Gene was responsible for many innovations amidst a renaissance of writing instruments – fountain and ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils – in the 1930’s and 40’s. Gene’s storied role made Ted feel like royalty in the pen and pencil collecting community. Ted’s collection stunned that community when he entered the hobby by joining and becoming active in the Arkansas Pen Club.

Ted’s life will reverberate for eternity through his family, his students, and everyone who saw the care and humility in his soft glance. He left peacefully and with dignity. He was not worried or afraid. He was surprised and grateful that his life was so long, and he was satisfied with how he left things, in order and well cared for.