Theodore (Ted) Grossman (73) died Saturday, May 3, 2014, at his home in Eastsound, WA following a brief struggle with lung cancer. He was born to Nicolas and Adlah Grossman in Waterbury, CT on December 1, 1940.

He graduated from Crosby High School in Waterbury, CT in 1958 and attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA where he graduated with a BA in History in 1962. He attended the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University that same year.

Ted served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines from 1963-1965. He met and married fellow volunteer, Anna (Kay) Flaxel on February 28, 1964. Upon completion of Peace Corps, the couple traveled around the world on their way back to the US. Shortly thereafter he enrolled in a History PhD program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to the Philippines and Spain to conduct research for his doctoral dissertation, which he worked on for the next year and a half.

Upon returning to the states in 1970, he taught history at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX for two years. He was hired by Hispanic International University in Houston, TX to guide the school through the accreditation process and the establishment of a University Without Walls program through Antioch University.

His passion for journalism was evident throughout high school and college. In 1978, he and his wife purchased the first of three community weekly newspapers in Waterville, WA, where they remained for two years, before purchasing The Nyssa Gate City Journal in Nyssa, OR. In 1985 they purchased The Islands’ Sounder in Eastsound, WA. The Grossmans sold the paper to Sound Publishing, Inc. in 1994, with Ted remaining on as editor until his retirement in 2006. He won many awards in journalism from both the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, including the distinguished Miles Turnbull Master Editor/Publisher Award in 2006 from WNPA.

Upon retirement, he devoted increased time to his genealogy research and writing including multiple trips to Hungary and Slovakia to conduct research. He founded a Parkinson’s Support Group on Orcas Island after being diagnosed with the disease in 2010. He enjoyed travel and golf and spending time with his children and grandchildren.

He is survived by his spouse of fifty years, Kay; his son Alex, daughter-in-law Rebecca Misner, grandchildren Mila (8) and Joe (5), all of Brooklyn, NY; daughter Marcy of Seattle; two brothers, Steven Grossman of Selma, AL and Peter Grossman of Indianapolis, IN; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Please join the family for a Celebration of Life for Grossman on Saturday, May 17 at 10 AM in the Madrona Room of the Orcas Center. Brunch side dishes would be appreciated. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Ted’s name to Kaleidoscope or the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.