Theodore Lawrence Kaye

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Debbie; his son, Andrew, his daughter-in-law Melissa, and their four children (Lucas, Natalia, Elias, and Asher); and his daughter, Sarah, and her three children (Maura, Jameson, and Juliette). He was predeceased by his father, John, his mother, Ruth, and his older brother, Bill.

Theodore—Dad to his children, Pop-Pop to his grandchildren, Uncle Ted to his nieces and nephews, and just Ted to everyone else—was born in Coronado, California, on August 30, 1950. Born into a Navy family, Ted lived in many places, including Naples, Italy.

When it came time to choose a career for himself, Ted followed in his father's footsteps. He received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1972 with a degree in systems engineering. Ted received his master's degree in computer science from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California, in 1977. During his 27-year career in the Navy, Ted served aboard eight ships and was the commanding officer aboard four of them, traveling around the world. He also taught at the Department Head Training School in Newport, Rhode Island, twice and served four tours at the Pentagon. He took great pride in training young men and women to be highly qualified Naval officers. He was known for his leadership skills and for always putting his crew first, lauding their accomplishments over his own. Ted made many lifelong friendships among his fellow officers. After retiring from military service at the rank of Captain, Ted went on to work for Raytheon, CACI, Strategic Insight, and Sayers.

Ted was much more than a collection of bullet points outlining an impressive Navy career or pins on a map showing where he'd been. He met his future wife Debbie on a blind date at the Naval Academy in 1971. He joined the Catholic church, got married in 1974, and started a family of his own. He loved his family. Ted was the kind of person who'd come home with exotic gifts from foreign countries after every deployment, the kind who'd drop everything to take his upset teenager to the movies, the kind who'd stay up all night with a new puppy to surprise his kids on Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, Ted was notorious for his "Midnight Santa" runs, where he'd venture out on Christmas Eve to find extra presents that no one would expect the next morning.

Ted loved to travel, and he shared that love with his family. The trips he planned weren't simple vacations; he'd surprise his family with weekslong adventures to far-off places with an eye toward their unique interests. When Debbie and the kids got hooked on the show Avonlea on the Disney Channel, he took them to Prince Edward Island to see where the story took place. He took them to Australia to give his animal-obsessed children up-close encounters with wildlife they'd only ever dreamed of seeing in the wild. And when they went to the British Isles, he made sure they got to see Loch Ness—not because he wanted to, but because he knew his son would want to look for the monster.

He was also a fan of science fiction. He loved Superman. He loved Star Trek, so much so that he'd play the opening fanfare over the ship's loudspeakers when returning to port after long deployments overseas. He listened to country music and the Beach Boys and whatever female singer was popular at the time—musical tastes that were not inherited by his children. And he was a techie to his core—the Kaye house always had a computer, even before they were commonplace in most family homes, and he was an early adopter of the internet.

Ted could see the good in everyone and had a strong desire to help those in need. He was a member of St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood, West Virginia, where he served on the Welcome Committee and the Maintenance Committee. He never judged people for their occupation or the way they lived, but he saw the gifts people had to offer and encouraged them to follow their dreams. Ted was a good man who will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood, WV, on Saturday, August 30th. The family will receive guests at 10:00 AM and the Mass will begin at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Navy Relief Society. https://www.nmcrs.org/