March 6, 2022
March 6, 2022
Just the other day I was relating to friends the enormous impact Ted's classes and teaching had on me--60 years ago.
This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Ted Braun, 91, born on April 7, 1921 and passed away on March 6, 2013. All us of who knew him were better for the knowing, and it is up to us to keep that spirit in the world as best we can.
Contributions can be made in his name to the Whidbey Island Community Orchestra c/o Enid Braun 7441 Barred Owl Way, Clinton, WA 98236, or the Orcas Island Library 500 Rose St Eastsound, WA 98245.
Please sign in, and leave your stories and contact information.
The slideshow presented at the memorial on June 15th can be veiwed at:
Ted Braun 1921-2013 on Vimeo
Tributes
Leave a tribute
June 16, 2013
June 16, 2013
A great teacher, mentor and friend who made me understand the possibility of “Salvation in Poïesis.” Ted possessed a tremendous, inspiring intellect—he walked among the most kind, gentile, and humble human beings ever to have trod this planet. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
June 11, 2013
June 11, 2013
Dad was great collector of stones. They came from all over the world and were a significant connection to the ages. They were on his desk, around the house and yard, and in his pockets. Please bring one to the memorial in his memory to put in his great grand daughter Isabel's red toy wheelbarrow he made for his grandson Ted.
June 9, 2013
June 9, 2013
I am sorry to hear of Ted's death. I was lucky enough to have taken 2 classes from him while I was getting my MAT at L and C. Ted's teaching had a profound impact on me because he treated us students and the subject matter with respect. I was a new teacher and he showed me that everyone wants to learn and will learn if you recognize the dignity within all of us. Thanks Ted.
June 5, 2013
June 5, 2013
The kindest, gentlest, wisest teacher among some legendarily compassionate professors. I can still hear him sighing that long, ponderous sigh, showing us it was appropriate to wonder at every single thing.
June 4, 2013
June 4, 2013
For you dear Ted--Raymond Carver's poem Late Fragment:
And did you get what /you wanted from this life, even so?/
I did./And what did you want?/To call myself beloved, to feel myself/beloved on the earth
And did you get what /you wanted from this life, even so?/
I did./And what did you want?/To call myself beloved, to feel myself/beloved on the earth
May 2, 2013
May 2, 2013
There are places you've never been to that may have already affected your own life. There are people you've never met, but who have surely influenced you more than those you see every day. I never met Ted in person, but his mind and soul helped me long ago. Without his tremendous help from afar, I would not have been able to publish two of my books. Thank you, Ted, forever.
April 28, 2013
April 28, 2013
Mike and I send our sincere condolences to Alice and Ted's family. We were lucky enough to both be on the overseas trip to Turkey with Ted, Alice and Tim, and will have a life time of wonderful memories. Two years later Ted married us and we are forever grateful that he was such a significant part of our lives!
April 14, 2013
April 14, 2013
I have such wonderful memories of Ted and Alice leading the L&C study trip to Turkey along with Tim! Ted was so wise & such a gentle leader. A few years later my husband-to-be (also an L&C grad) and I were delighted to find out Ted had his minister's license and could marry us! Later, we enjoyed sailing by and visiting he & Alice at their wonderful homestead on Orcas Island. Hugs to Alice
April 12, 2013
April 12, 2013
I am honored, inspired and proud to have known Ted. As an African American program director (rare at L&C in the early 70s) he made me feel welcome and respected (which was not so common then). I knew when I had a student in my program that was from Ted's class: they were more human and intelligent. I called it the "Ted effect". Blessings on the Braun family.
April 11, 2013
April 11, 2013
I grew up across the street in Portland from the Braun's. Enid and I used to play in their Laurel bushes. I remember Ted standing in his garden with his rake or hoe and always looking up and stopping what he was doing to smile and say hello. He always treated me like I was a grown up even when I was 10. Theresa Lindbeck Baisley
April 11, 2013
April 11, 2013
Ted has been a good friend to me and the whole Lucht family for many years. I shall remember his walk, his laugh, the kind, patient, strong way about him. I think he could do anything. My sincere condolences go out to Alice and all his family and friends.
April 10, 2013
April 10, 2013
Truly one-of-a-kind, Dr. Braun was compassionate, full of humor and wonderful stories. I was fortunate to be a student of his in the 70s, then years later when I worked in the English Department. He was genuine and I'm blessed to have known him. Ted will be missed, his loping walk and penetrating gaze, but I suspect he'll never be forgotten. Condolences to his family and friends.
April 9, 2013
April 9, 2013
I first got to know Ted as 'a fellow camper. He proved both helpful and happy. Through many years since he has continued to be a happy and helpful camper and spiritually will remain so. Thanks,
Ted.
Ted.
April 9, 2013
April 9, 2013
I loved classes with Ted Braun at Lewis and Clark College because he honored our opinions and responded to our questions with kindness. He made Shakespeare's dramas relevant to me in the late 60's. He was one of my favorite teachers. I lift his family up in my thoughts and prayers.
April 8, 2013
April 8, 2013
What a treat to have been a student of Ted's. His grace, intelligence and kindness were evident every day as he challenged us to think and express ourselves more clearly. I learned a lot from you. Thanks for everything, Ted.
April 8, 2013
April 8, 2013
I found a kindred spirit when I signed up for Ted's classes in the late 1950s, shortly after he came to L&C. I have not forgotten his curiosity and kindness, his penetrating look into your eyes, and his gentle, calm, and polite manner. I think many of us aspired to become teachers like him. Since my wife and I took his classes together, we had many deep and lively discussions afterwards.
April 8, 2013
April 8, 2013
I was a student at LC in the late 1970's and took a class from Ted for my last 8 terms at LC. My first class was Russian Literature. Ted came into the class and looked at me and called me Illiya, the name of a character in a russian book, the cover picture bore some resemblence. From then on I was Illiya. Ted, you had a wonderful life. My sympathies to your family and Alice for your loss.
April 8, 2013
April 8, 2013
Ted was a wonderful, gentle, sincere, intelligent human being, with a twinkle in his eye, always. A little angst, a lot of passion for what life was all about. My fondest memory of him - his desk, bejeweled with all the finds from his daily hikes to work. I was not fond of his tuba with a garbage can lid for a bell ! :^) [I was Treasurer of AFT union with Ted, Bill Lewis & Gerry Baum.]
April 7, 2013
April 7, 2013
I treasure the relationship I had with Ted and Alice and "the kids". Leading our group to Czechoslovakia in 1969, he brought a soft handed stature and presence that lifted us all to heights of experience. He became a dear friend and something of a mentor, although our interests were different., We shared a love of music and Ted brought great written works to my world.
April 7, 2013
April 7, 2013
As a child at Frog Pond Church in Wilsonville, I was privileged to have known Ted as my pastor. It was his first church and I was just a teen but treasured my time with him as pastor, youth leader and friend. Many memories are still with me of the parsonage, the family and fun times together. I still attend Frog Pond regularly and love it deeply. Thanks, Ted, for the memories.
April 7, 2013
April 7, 2013
As an English Major in the mid 80's I had Ted for several classes. However, I most remember Ted as a calm and steady presence in what was often a chaotic and busy time for an undergrad. I remember Ted always acknowledging each student as an individual....and always sharing with his classes the treasures he picked up -literally - each day as he walked to LC. He was a great Prof!
April 7, 2013
April 7, 2013
Alice, Enid, Marcus and Tim, thank you for sharing this kind man with us over the winter and spring of 1969, sad and beautiful times! We were so fortunate to have you all with us, and to have the gentle and deeply solid presence of this very sweet and learned man, who mentored with such a light touch, so gracefully and with such generosity. Thank you Ted.
April 7, 2013
April 7, 2013
In college -- and forever after, really -- I aspired to be Ted Braun. No chance, of course: I've never met anyone to match his mixture of intelligence and good will in the 40+ years since. There were no stupid questions or answers in Ted's class, because he could always singlehandedly turn them into something thought-provoking and profound. I'll always remember him vividly.
April 5, 2013
April 5, 2013
What a lovely man. My only association with Ted was through my job. He never failed to say hello. I was so sorry to hear that he died but I know that he will light the way for many of us when our time comes. I wish peace to Alice, Enid, Ramona and all his beloved.
April 3, 2013
April 3, 2013
Bill and I remember fondly our wonderful kind neighbors, Ted and Alice. I used to meet them walking together in our Shorewood neighborhood and we would stop and chat. I truly miss them and am sad to learn of Ted's passing.
Leave a Tribute
Recent Tributes
March 6, 2022
March 6, 2022
Just the other day I was relating to friends the enormous impact Ted's classes and teaching had on me--60 years ago.
June 16, 2013
June 16, 2013
A great teacher, mentor and friend who made me understand the possibility of “Salvation in Poïesis.” Ted possessed a tremendous, inspiring intellect—he walked among the most kind, gentile, and humble human beings ever to have trod this planet. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
June 11, 2013
June 11, 2013
Dad was great collector of stones. They came from all over the world and were a significant connection to the ages. They were on his desk, around the house and yard, and in his pockets. Please bring one to the memorial in his memory to put in his great grand daughter Isabel's red toy wheelbarrow he made for his grandson Ted.
Gallery
IMG_20140921_0001
orcas-island_0
Sunrise on Orcas
Making muffins
Walking back from the beach with Ted
Ted: Turkey trip '76-'77
Ted '69: consulting the oracle, Delphi.
Ted '69: start of the beard to protest Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Ted '69: Prague
Recent stories
Father Sky, Mother Earth: The Eagle, The Wolf
October 13, 2014
Ah, the Great Spirit is a whispered word , an ink blot, a cherub laughing in his crib.Ted Braun would bleed red ink over my freshmen Humanities class papers, jostling me, kicking me in the ass about his proper english language bent--rules and regulations. Gingerly, I'd pick up my slaughtered text he'd just handed me extricating the bleeding mess from off my ruptured desk top. B over F jumped at me as Dr Braun lampooned me for misuse of the word 'Lambent.'Did I care? We both wondered that. My wild streak fed off those moments of creative interaction with this strikingly stimulating man who even got me to follow him to chapel.I grew. I have never conformed, fit in any template. Then again The Great Spirit intervened.I was Hotspur, tending to my garden on Doe Bay road Orcas Is and approaching jauntily now is my older now newly rediscovered Friend Ted. "I've been thinking Ted," I commenced another of many firey interchanges. "That intelligence is essentially making connections. Seeing connections." He laughed that weird chortle of his and commenced speaking like the NY cab driver he was."So interesting, Doctor. That is precsiecly my theme of a symposium I'm giving this weekend. I've a surprise for you , Phil"And what a saluberous surprise it was! Life never tasted better than those moments with Ted.
OLGA
June 14, 2013
For Ted and Alice
OLGA
In a cabin on an island
the world is kept.
An old man runs with horses
hears their voices
and is young among them.
The nightly fire
gives more
than light
a third companion
to two inside.
Though currents swift
and fearsome
churn without
the island’s cabin holds
still upon its ground.
In twilight’s darkness
voices may be heard
speaking of dreams
and life
and earth.
~Robert Lee Gaynor
Summer 2004, written after a visit with Ted on Orcas Island