Ted and I worked on a farm near my parents' house for a summer in the early/mid 2000s. It was great working with Ted, who was consistently hilarious throughout what could often be an otherwise staggeringly boring workday. Working in the greenhouse, we used to marvel as the thermometer would approach and exceed 105 or 110 degrees. It was sort of a competition to see who could withstand the highest temperatures. Ted was a strong guy, which offset my occasional feebleness at the heavy-lifting tasks. He was easy-going, but also diligent, in helping out.
Ted only broke the irrigation pipes only once, and he handled it well. The pipes were unmarked and situated immediately next to turning areas for the tractor, so it happened pretty often that one of us clipped one. He swiped the top off of an irrigation pipe while making a turn with the tractor. Watching from a distance, I watched as Ted slowly got off the tractor to inspect the damage. He seemed amused, composed. Ted didn't curse or kick the pipe (which I would have done), but rather he calmly strolled across the farm to inform the boss of the problem. No hurry - just going for a walk over to the farm office. I think this was the physical humor he thought best suited the situation. Ted fixed the pipe himself.
On another day, the farm owners were engaged in a heated (and audibly profane) argument about some of their less successful business ventures. The argument resonated all across the acres and acres of growing plants. At some point, when the f-bombs were flying fast and furious, Ted looked up at me from across the row we were planting and mouthed, expressively, "OH...MY...GOD..." It was about 98 degrees that day, and neither of us relished the idea of working in the icy silence between the farm owners for the rest of the afternoon. Luckily, within a few minutes, one of the owners came out and politely relieved us of our afternoon duties.
Ted had some time to kill before his drive home, so we went by my parents' nearby house and stood waste-deep in their above-ground pool We listened to The Cure and enjoyed the afternoon off by drinking Pepsi. Ted had good taste in music, and obviously was a hugely skilled musician. He tried to teach me a couple of things on the guitar, but alas, I lacked any significant musical ability despite Ted's patience. That afternoon, we both hoped that the business would still be intact the next day (we both needed the wages). Luckily, it was.
One of Ted's running jokes for the summer was using Elton John lyrics in idle conversation. In particular, he would ask me what day tomorrow was on a Friday, and I would answer "Saturday". Ted would immediately jump in with Elton John's massively annoying, "Saturday! - Saturday! - Saturday!" lyrics. This was always, always funny. He suckered me into saying "Saturday" many times, which he marked by singing that awful Elton John song. Ted managed to work the "Saturday" chorus into many conversations, always just slightly out of earshot of everyone else.
I didn't get to interact with Ted as much in the years after we worked together, but I always thought highly of him as a strong, intelligent, honest guy. He made our summer farm work much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise through his humor and helpful attitude. I know he will be greatly missed.
- Dan Serres
