Theodore Ted Versaw

Theodore K. Versaw was born on April 14, 1928, in Oklahoma City, OK, and died on June 28, 2012, in Edmond, OK. During the Depression his father was transferred to Houston, TX, where he and his family lived from 1936 to 1943. Ted graduated from the “old” Central High School, Oklahoma City, OK, in 1945. He was preceded in death by his parents, Gladys & Clifford Versaw, and sister, Gloria June Wilson. He married Ruth Berry on September 1, 1964. They had a happy 43 years of married life before she passed away on October 26, 2007. He is survived by his adopted daughter and son-in-law, Joyce & Curt Jacobs, and 3 grandchildren, Bailey, Zachary, and Jason Jacobs. In July, 2008, he moved in with his friends, Richard and Lisa Brooks, who had invited him to live with them after his late wife died.

Ted enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 17, in December 1945, and retired, after 30 years of service (19 ½ yrs active duty, 11 ½ yrs in the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve), in January 1966. He was a Korean Veteran, (September 1950-September 1951), and spent a total of 10 years overseas, including Japan, China, Hawaii, and Okinawa. He also spent 6 months aboard the aircraft carrier USS VALLEY FORGE, on a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. Upon his retirement from active duty, he worked 10 ½ years at the United States Post Office, in Oklahoma City, OK, retiring with his vested pension rights. He then worked for Southwestern Bell. While working at SWBell, his wife, Ruth, who was losing her eyesight due to macular degeneration, contacted a lady in Minneapolis, MN, who had a free cassette tape lending library for the blind, to order a book to listen to. After a few months she became so interested in this, she decided to start her own cassette tape lending library for the blind and physically disabled. In June 1986, after 10 years of service with SWBell, Ruth was doing so good, Ted decided to help her with her library and retired from SWBell, with his vested pension rights. At that time, they formed a non-profit organization (401-3c), named the RUTH BERRY VERSAW LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND. In July 2006, after she became ill and could no longer work in the library, they decided to close it. She found another tape lending library, that was more than was more than happy, to accept their more than 8,000 recorded cassette tapes of books, sermons, music, etc. On December 31, 2006, he had completed the transfer of all the tapes. After having served the blind and physically disabled, faithfully, for over 20 years, he officially closed the library.

Ted was also an avid bowler and had bowled two 299 games. He also placed second, nationwide, in a Senior’s Bowling Tournament, for which he was awarded two free airline tickets to the Bahama Islands. He and Ruth, enjoyed a fantastic week there. Although he had been retired from the Marine Corps for over 46 years, Ted was still a Marine at heart and he never hesitated to let this fact be known to one and all. “ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE”!

Written by Ted Versaw