Deceased August 8, 2019
View alumni profile (log in required)
Read obituary
In Memory
Theodore Otto “Ted” Alcaide died of vascular dementia in hospice in the Town of Amherst on Aug. 8, 2019, at the age of 83. Attracted by the town’s trees and peacefulness, he and Elizabeth, his beloved wife of 60 years, had lived in the Amherst area for the last 10 years.
Ted came to Amherst College from Rivers School in Brookline, Mass., where he won the faculty, history and mathematics awards and was business manager of the Rivers Current.
Each day at Rivers, Ted saw a plaque quoting a verse from the Book of Micah, “what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” In later years, he confided to Elizabeth that he had tried to model his life according to these precepts.
Ted graduated from Rivers School in 1954. That summer on vacation on Cape Cod, the 19-year-old Ted met 17-year-old Elizabeth Hulsman, who was also on holiday with her family. He dated Elizabeth throughout college, and they married in 1958 at Ted’s home church in Waban, Mass.
At Amherst, Ted majored in history and pledged Phi Alpha Psi, where he was elected vice president. He served on the Student and the Chest Drive, chaired Mardi Gras, was treasurer of the Prom Committee and was named to Sphinx.
Ted then went on to earn his MBA in financial analysis and accounting at Northwestern University, and Elizabeth became a Unitarian Universalist minister. In 1964, they had a daughter, Florence Estella “Fawn”, and a son, Howard Antonio, in 1967.
In our 50th Reunion class book, Ted described his lifeline as, “jagged and curved with multiple stops and restarts.” It included a successful business career with a brokerage firm and investment fund, a position with the SEC in Washington, serving as CFO of Beacon Press when they published the Pentagon Papers and later acting as a financial consultant to firms experiencing financial difficulties.
Ted wrote he found his true calling after retirement in 2000, serving the homeless through the Bread and Jams shelter in Cambridge. In Amherst, he tutored and mentored schoolchildren, read and discussed literature with the visually impaired and, with Elizabeth, advocated for civil rights, peace, justice and nuclear disarmament through advocacy and, if necessary, civil disobedience.
In our class book, Ted also reported that he had been “deeply and richly blessed to participate—through our Amherst Unitarian Universalist Society—with the same seven people for two hours every two weeks for the last five years. We each share intimately, without interjection, key elements of our lives and then discuss together a theme presented by one of us.” Ted was also an avid bridge player. He and his partner of 10 years played 50 boards of tournament bridge each week.
Ted accomplished all this despite facing significant and even life-threatening health issues, including a lifelong seizure disorder, weight issues and, more recently, a tick-born illness that for a time caused cognitive impairment. He dealt with these conditions through dieting and a rigorous program of two-hour hikes with his dogs through rugged terrain every three days.
Despite his eight-year struggle with vascular dementia, Ted remained active and engaged. He continued to play bridge, although not quite as well, and mow his lawn, albeit more slowly. Only two months before his death, he attended his Rivers School 65th reunion, and on June 14, he and Elizabeth quietly celebrated their 60th anniversary by sharing black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream.
In addition to his widow, the Rev. Elizabeth Hulsman Alcaide, Ted is survived by their children, Florence “Fawn” Alcaide and Howard Alcaide, as well as by numerous cousins and in laws.
Ned Megargee ’58