Ted August Rother

Ted August Rother, Jr., 91, of Rhome went to be with our Lord Wednesday, January 18, 2023 in Grapevine, Texas.

Funeral: 11 AM Friday, February 2, 2023 at Hawkins Funeral Home in Boyd, with burial at the DFW National Cemetery at 3:15 PM Thursday February 9th. Family will receive friends one hour prior to service.

Ricky Harrison will officiate. Pallbearers are Amanda Baranowski, Ryan Baranowski, Breckan Cooper, Riley Baranowski, Theodore Nickless and Brennan Cooper.

Ted, was born August 4, 1931, in Bay City, TX, to Jessie Alie (Owens) Rother and Theodore August Joseph Rother, Sr. He graduated Alvin High School as Valedictorian, and then from Texas A&M University as a member of Tau Beta Pi with a civil engineering degree.  He served in the Army from 1954–1956 and was stationed in Friedberg/Bad Nauheim, Germany, where he worked as a helicopter mechanic. Ted was married to Shirley Curry, and they were blessed with two wonderful daughters, Gail and Anita.

Ted went to work for Humble Oil and Refining (eventually Exxon) and oversaw the construction of hundreds of company service stations in the western U.S., which required several relocations. During those years, his family enjoyed long driving vacations, mostly through the American West.

On May 16, 1986, Ted married the love of his life, Emma Gail Cooper, in Lake Tahoe, NV. After 30 years of working for Exxon, Ted took early retirement in 1986. In 2000, the couple put down roots in Rhome, TX, where they’ve enjoyed the wonderful community. He and Gail had many adventures traveling around the country in their RV—often visiting children and grandchildren, and celebrating special birthdays with them.

A history buff, Ted had an avid interest in Western history and in Custer especially. He was known to enjoy extended browsing in the visitor’s center exhibits at Little Big Horn, WY.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Roger. He will be missed by his 

wife and best friend Gail; daughters Gail (Wayne) and Anita (Robert); stepsons Ken (Christa), Mike (Rhonda) and Randy (Ksusha); grandchildren Alexa, Tosha, Theodore, Emily, Ryan (Kaitlynn), Amanda, Cole, Riley, Brennan and Breckan.

On his last morning he greeted the new nurse at shift change: “Hi there, I’m Ted.” He’d probably done that thousands of times during his life. He never met a stranger. Friendly, kind and loyal: he will be missed by all who’ve known him.

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