In Memory

Howard Bair

Howard Bair

 

Obituary of Howard (Ted) Bair

Howard (Ted) Bair, 77, son of the late Howard (Cub) Bair and Elizabeth (Betty) Falls, was born on September 16, 1942, in Des Moines, Iowa. He passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly on February 20, 2020, of a heart attack. Ted was raised in Mason City, Iowa, with his two sisters, Anne (Gary) Wilcox of Mission Viejo, CA, and Molly (Mark) Williams of Cedar Rapids, IA. He later attended the University of Iowa, where he was a letter winner on the Hawkeye golf team. At the U of I he also cultivated his passion for watching and cheering for Hawkeye sports, particularly Football and Basketball. We have many wonderful memories of Saturdays spent at Kinnick Stadium as a family and later watching Hawkeye football games on TV together. At the University of Iowa Ted met Nancy Peters, who he married, and together they raised their three children in Mason City, Iowa: Whitney (Marc) Molis of Urbandale, IA, Alex (Amy) Bair of Urbandale, IA, and Carter (Kelli) Bair of Victor, NY. They later divorced, but Ted felt fortunate to again find love, later in life, with Karen Levis, and he and Karen enjoyed many adventures together including a cruise to Southeast Asia last winter. 

Ted started out selling life insurance for John Hancock in Des Moines. In 1973 his father unexpectedly passed away and Ted bought his father’s beer distributorship, Blue Ribbon Inc., and grew the company ten-fold. He later sold the distributorship and briefly worked in investment trading. Ted had an interest in helping people, so he went back to school to become certified as a substance abuse counselor and worked at Prairie Ridge Addiction Treatment Center. Ted subsequently returned to the business world as the Small Business Development Center director at NIACC in Mason City. He moved to Urbandale, Iowa, in 2014 to be closer to his children and grandchildren. He took a job as the Interim State Director and later Regional Director of Small Business Development at Iowa State. Ted briefly retired in 2017, but was back to working at Iowa State at least 3 days a week at the time of his death. 

But the most important thing in Ted’s life was family. Ted loved attending his grandchildren’s activities and he will be missed every day by his 7 grandchildren: Kaitlyn (15), Courtney (12), Ashley (11), Preston (11), Elliott (10), Palmer (2), and Hayden (4 months). His children will miss his advice, support, and conversations. Ted was a wonderful conversationalist, and when you talked with him you always had his full attention. He would notice and appreciate even the small details of a meal, a sporting event, or a music program. He loved travel, golf, fishing in Canada, and playing Fantasy Football. We will miss having him in our everyday lives so much. 

Memorial contributions can be made to the Iowa State University Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship.

Visitation will be at Lutheran Church of Hope, West Des Moines, from 10-11 AM on Thursday, February 27, 2020, followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 11AM at Lutheran Church of Hope. Luncheon to follow at Hope.

 



 
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02/23/20 06:55 PM #1    

John Amos

sorry to hear about our classmate ted.  all the best to karen and family at this difficult time.  john amos


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