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Ted Fathauer (1946 - 2013)
Ted Fathauer, of Fairbanks, died at home on Jan. 20, 2013. He was born June 5, 1946. He had recently retired from a 44-year career as a weather forecaster with the National Weather Service. He worked briefly in Suitland, Md., but for the past 42 years, he lived and worked in Alaska. For the past 35 years he worked in the Fairbanks office.
He truly loved Alaska, and never wanted to leave. He lived in Juneau and Anchorage, but his heart was always in Fairbanks.
He had a long attachment to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he earned his master's degree in atmospheric sciences in 2012. He had previously earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1968. He had been admitted to begin work on his doctorate degree at the University of Alaska this coming fall, and he was greatly looking forward to it.
He contributed to the university, was in the University of Alaska College of Fellows and on the board of Friends of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. He also was on the boards of the Salvation Army, Fairbanks Concert Association and Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra.
He was a supporter of the arts in Fairbanks and of Opera Fairbanks. For 19 years, he participated in the Equinox Marathon.
There will be a celebration of his life at 1 p.m. May 11, 2013, in the UAF Davis Concert Hall.
He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Mary Ann, of Fairbanks; and his twin-sister, Gretchen Fathauer, of Blue Rock, Ohio.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Helen and Arthur Fathauer, of Lake Forest, Ill.
Daily News-Miner January 30, 2013
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Gretchen Fathauer
The cause of Ted's death was an epileptic seizure, complicated by his asthma flaring up shortly before his last seizure. He had been having seizures occasionally since he was 18. This never seemed to limit him very much. He completed a marathon again only 3 months before he died, so who would have thought he was out of time? No one knew it, including him. He had post-retirement plans in place to pursue a PhD. at University of Alaska Fairbanks. He was retired only 3 weeks before he died. He finished his master's degree there in May of 2012, and I attended his graduation.
He had a good life, though, with many good friends, interesting work, and a devoted wife. Many of his dreams came true, and things were always interesting!
Tom Jewell
I was surprised when Ted asked me to go with him on a canoe trip to Quetico Provincial Park the summer between Junior and Senior year (1963). Gretchen would know the name of the summer camp in Minnesota that Ted had attended for many years and which organized the trip. The trip was a BLAST! When I can find some of the photos from that trip, I'll post them here.
We kept in touch over the years, and he came back regularly after high school to see his parents and sister. In June 1973 he was working at the weather service office in Juneau, AK. I took the train from Chicago to Seattle and then a plane to Juneau. I landed at the airport where he worked. As soon as he got off work, he wanted to go kayaking. We went to his house. He had two collapsible kayaks and he loaded them into his Land-Rover-like truck.
We went to a small lake not far away and paddled around and talked until the sun set. I asked Ted what time it was. He told me it was a little past 11:00 PM!! We went back to his place and I slept on the couch in the living room. I wondered why he had super-thick black curtains across the living room window. I found out about 3:00 AM when a ray of brilliant sunshine came through the crack where the two curtains didn't quite meet and seemed to drill a hole through my eyelids.
The next day, we went to visit a friend of his who lived in a cabin in the forest with no electricity or phone. When we got there, we found that his friend wasn't home, so we headed back. His truck got stuck as we crossed a stream. Not to worry. He pulled a wire rope that was wrapped on the winch mounted on the front bumper and wrapped the rope around the nearest worthy tree. The rope had a hook on the end so that Ted could attach the rope to itself.
He started the winch and we were unstuck within a minute. With a smug chuckle, he explained that a winch on the front of a vehicle was a necessity in that part of Alaska. I could see why.
As Gretchen says, he loved Alaska. When I said that I liked Alaska, he told me not to move there. He explained that if too many people from the "lower 48" moved to Alaska, they would ruin the place. He added that I was welcome to visit anytime, but not welcome to stay! We laughed, but he wasn't entirely kidding either. He was quite the character.
I'm truly sad that I won't see him again.