Theodore Hauck (Ted) Meeder Jr., 93 of Ventura passed away on December 18, 2021. Ted was born in Keenesburg, Colorado to Theodore H. Meeder, Sr. and Vivian (Vallicott) Meeder on September 6, 1928. His family moved from Colorado to Azusa, California when Ted was nine years old.
Ted graduated from Citrus Union High School in Glendora, CA in 1946 and attended the University of California in Santa Barbara where he was a member if the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity. Ted entered the Army during the Korean War and was stationed in Germany. He graduated 3rd in his class from Officers Candidate School in 1952. He later achieved the grade of 1st Lieutenant. After his honorable discharge Ted went on to Hastings School of Law in San Francisco. During the 1956 Republican Convention there, he drove a limousine for Sherman Adams, who was President Eisenhower's Chief of Staff. He went on to earn a law degree in 1957 and passed the bar on his first attempt. He practiced law in Glendora and West Covina for over 30 years and was a member of the Pomona Valley Bar Association, serving as President in 1977-78. The California State Bar honored him in 2008 for 50 years of service to the legal profession.
He was very fond of music, especially classical, and he was an excellent trombone player. He played in his high school band for 4 years. He was also fond of the theater, travel, and the outdoors. Ted and his wife, Shirley, put many miles on their motor home. They visited Yosemite almost every year, sometimes twice a year, and made numerous visits to other National Parks. They visited his hometown, Keenesburg, Colorado, five times in their motor home and twice by air. Ted and Shirley retired to Ventura in 1987 and enjoyed living in the Ventura Keys for over 34 years. They loved to cruise around the channels in their electric boat with family and friends, and for many years they made it a habit to go out to lunch every single day. Ted was well known for his love of cars, and his last three cars were eye-catching red Mustangs.
Ted very much enjoyed family gatherings, which often included Shirley and Ted's blended family of 6 children and 9 great grandchildren. He had an extremely quick wit and could regale his family with army stories and courtroom tales. He was always in a 3-piece suit when he practiced law, and he wore a dress shirt every day up to his very last day.
Ted descended from 4 passengers on the Mayflower, William and Mary Brewster and Edward and Ann Fuller.
Ted is survived by his wife, Shirley, of Ventura; his sons, Gregory Meeder and Douglas Meeder of Big Bear; his daughter, Elizabeth Zellers of Redlands; his grandsons, Brenton Meeder, Ryan Meeder, Christopher Meeder, and Joshua Zellers; and his sister, Marilyn Babb.
His parents, Ted and Vivian Meeder, and his siblings, Lillian Fox, Betty Ann Thorpe, and Keith Meeder precede him in death.
Any memorial donations may be made to the Rubicon Theatre or a charity of your choice. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Livingston Memorial Hospice for their loving care.
A celebration of life and scattering of ashes will be held at a later date.