Ted was born in Portland, Oregon to Jim and Helen Watkins. He was quickly nicknamed "Baldy" by his dad; his hair eventually grew but he never lost the name. He was the first of what would be Jim and Helen's children, the 5 T's, and the only son. He grew up on Lexington Street and then Pembroke Court in Milwaukie.
Ted attended Christ the King parish school and La Salle High School where he excelled academically, athletically and spiritually. He briefly attended Mt Angel Seminary, and later received an undergraduate degree from Portland State University. He went on to graduate from Villanova Law School in 1985. Ted was a very successful "Philadelphia lawyer". While in law school, he helped develop a computer program that enabled large financial institutions to administer national cases in various federal jurisdictions. That became the foundation for growing his law firm, Becket & Watkins, from a handful of lawyers to hundreds of lawyers and paralegals. He "retired" from law at age 38 to pursue his dream of opening a bookstore on the Oregon coast.
In 2003, he opened Gold Beach Books, which is the second largest used bookstore in Oregon. He was a fixture in the community, making friends and giving generously to local events and causes. Part of his legacy will be the bookstore that he loved. He lived on an 80-acre estate in Pistol River, which he named "Camp Esther" in honor of his maternal grandmother, Esther DeWitt. Visitors always posed with Ted in front of his Camp Esther sign and an ever-growing number of those photos adorned his walls.
Ted was a veracious reader, loved fine scotch, occasional cigars and poker. His travel highlight was taking his dad to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II; he also enjoyed many golf vacations with friends and family. He loved to bet on sports and his Super Bowl wager boards and parties were iconic. He was an excellent storyteller with his quick wit and boisterous voice. He kept the far-flung Watkins and Shaw families of more than 150 connected by organizing our reunions, the next which he scheduled for August in Tillamook. We will gather without him, in the area he told us was his "heart's home" and we will walk the beach at Cape Lookout where he enjoyed so many campouts as a young boy.
He was a life long Catholic whose faith never faltered even when faced with the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. He had a chance to reflect and shared with us that he was glad he got cancer because it taught him not only how to love, but that he was loved by so many. He told us time and time again that he was not afraid to die, his Catholic upbringing and the closeness he had to God made him know there were great things waiting for him in heaven.
Because of his illness, he spent a great deal of time in the Portland area living with his sister Toni who opened her home to him and took excellent care of him over the last 18 months.
Ted is survived by his heart-broken sisters, Teri, Traci, Toni and Tami; brothers-in-law, Robin Mennis and Dan Klupenger; nieces, Lindsay and Emily Cline, Danielle and Morgan Klupenger; nephews, Theo and Alex Peterson; aunts, Mary Stewart, Marg Winrich and Jean Drowley; uncle, Jerry Stewart; and a cast of cousins and friends whose hearts he touched in immeasurable ways.
In lieu flowers, donations can be given to Ted's favorite organizations: