In Memoriam

Dr. Theodore D. Peters
1948-2025

COOPERSTOWN—Dr. Theodore D. Peters is love and loved. He is Sweetheart to his wife, Patrice. He is dad to his daughters, Julie and Laura. He is Dr. Peters to his students. He is Ted to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Ted’s baby photos and his handsome adult face show the same expressive warmth. His facial hair—and the light and intelligence from his eyes—make him look like the gifted teacher and professor he is. Ted has a huge and loving heart, a brilliant mind, and an infectious and sometimes irreverent sense of humor.

Ted is a self-described water guy who moved to Cooperstown at the age of 7. He loves his family and friends, the village, and his lake. He loves live and recorded music and seeing concerts featuring artists including David Bromberg, Arlo Guthrie, Joe Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen. He will be incensed that Joe Jackson is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unless and until Joe is finally inducted. Ted loves WTMD radio in Baltimore, Jim Henson, and ice cream.

As a child, Ted loved his family, his lake, and Cooperstown. He has fondly described growing up on his lake as idyllic, and he loved living in Greencrest. Also, he enjoyed travels with his family and living with his family in Denmark for a year. Ted loved boating, friends from school, and playing sports. He had many enduring friendships that started in childhood. Ted also loved his undergraduate experiences, including hosting a radio show, and friends he made at Bowdoin College.

Being a father meant the world to Ted. His daughters, Laura and Julie, were the lights of his life. He loved them dearly and took immense pride in the children they were and the adults they became. Before each daughter chose her undergraduate school, their dad had already decided that those schools would be the best choices for them. He was also quite proud that his daughters have long-standing friendships and that they earned postgraduate degrees. He valued Julie’s and Laura’s independence, intelligence, and spirit.

After earning his master’s degree and having successful careers in insurance, healthcare, and New York state public service, Ted had one of the accomplishments that meant the most to him. He became Dr. Peters when he earned his Ph.D. at the University at Albany. After Ted became a college professor, at each school where he taught, including schools in New Hampshire, Washington, and New York, he loved teaching and learning from his students, and his students learned from him and truly saw and valued him. While teaching at the United States Coast Guard Academy and the University of Baltimore (UB), his students and administrators truly saw and valued him. Before Ted retired from UB, he won teaching awards after being selected by his students. He won additional teaching awards there, after they were conferred by his dean.

Ted joined his most long-lasting professional home, the Eastern Academy of Management (EAM), decades ago. Many years ago, EAM’s Fellows acknowledged him and his years of dedicated servant leadership by electing him to become an EAM Fellow.

After learning of Ted’s passing, an EAM leader shared: “Ted was truly one of a kind. He had a unique charm, a warmth that immediately put others at ease, and a genuine intellect rooted in care and kindness. He was selfless, compassionate, and deeply respected the contributions each of us made, whether large or small. Losing a loved one is never easy, but Ted’s passing is especially difficult because of how profoundly special he was. Without him, EAM simply will not be the same.”

After Ted joined the UB business school faculty, he met Patrice there. They loved enjoying music and sharing thoughts with each other. He will continue to be the best person she knows, and he often said she was his best person. For years and years and years before, and then near the end of his life, each of them often lovingly said and showed each other that their marriage continued to get better over time. If they had been together in this life for thousands of years, they would not have had enough time together. They will always love and be in love with each other. He will always be her Sweetheart, and she will always be his Mrs. Peters.

Ted Peters passed peacefully at home with Patrice by his side in September 2025. He loves, and he is loved and survived by:

• his wife, Patrice. (He often and lovingly referred to her as his bride. It was his belief that finding each other, loving each other, and being in love with each other made him the luckiest person in the world. Her belief continues to be that makes her the luckiest person in the world.)
• his daughters, Laura and Julie. (He often and lovingly referred to them as his girls, while acknowledging that they were adults and being so proud of them and their independence and accomplishments. He said, wrote, and showed many times over the years: “I love both of my girls just the same.”)
• his daughter-in-law—and bonus daughter—Laura’s wife, Amanda. (While taking no credit for Amanda, he often and lovingly spoke about her kindness, intelligence, and wonderful sense of humor.)
• Laura and Amanda’s foster children, S and C. (He was thrilled to lovingly welcome them as part of his family.)
• his brother, Jim (Robin).
• his sister, Melissa Peters Barry (Tom).
• his many nieces and nephews.
• his family in Baltimore, including his mother-in-law, Vannie, his sisters-in-law, Linda (James) and Karen, and his bride’s niece (and honorary sister), Nicole.
• his many friends, colleagues, and students.
• his lake (shown more formally on maps and in publications as Lake Otsego).

He loves and is loved and predeceased by:

• his parents, Theodore and Maggie.
• his brother, Bill (survived by Trina).
• his father-in-law (Joseph).

Ted Peters will always be part of us. His love for us will never die. We love him, and we will always love him.

The celebration of life for Ted Peters will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at The Otesaga Resort Hotel, 60 Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY   13326 from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Please join us to celebrate and honor Ted. There will be an ice cream sundae bar.