Theodore Holmberg

Ted lived a vibrant life full of stories. His friends remember him as being charming, generous and a witty conversationalist who loved verbal sparring. An award-winning newspaper columnist as well as a reporter, editor, and publisher, he was also a serious and thoughtful person who cared about people and events. He referred to himself as a humanist. Born to humble beginnings as a first-generation American on July 16, 1931, on Staten Island, New York, to Teodor Linus Holmberg (from Sweden) and Elizabeth “Lil” (Codd) Holmberg (from England/Ireland), his parents instilled in him a deep respect for learning and achieving. His father served as a Merchant Marine officer in World War Two, then worked at The New York Daily News; his mother worked as a fitter in the garment industry.

His childhood in Brooklyn provided him with many of the defining elements of his life: his love for beaches; his life-long interest in athletics; his love of reading and writing; and his love for newspapers. Ted graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and Brooklyn College and played basketball for both. He received both athletic and academic scholarships and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. His romance with newspapers began when he wrote a sports column for the Sheepshead Bay News, which he attributes to his admission to the Columbia School of Journalism from which he graduated with honors. Ted’s career included two years in the Army, 20 years as a reporter, editor and Assistant Vice-President of the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin, culminating in his dream of owning newspapers. In 1975, he purchased the Pawtuxet Valley Daily Times, (later the Kent County Daily Times) in West Warwick, R.I. with help from friends and family. Ted sold the paper to Independent News Corp., based in New Zealand, where he became the President of the U.S. division and bought community newspapers in Houston and California. As President of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors in the 1980s, Ted led one of the first delegations of journalists to the Soviet Union. He taught journalism at Providence College for eight years.

After retirement in 2000, Ted split his time between Bethesda, MD and Rhode Island. Ted pursued his love of writing, publishing three murder mysteries: Murder Between the Sheets; The Art of Murder; and Murder Moons the Beach, and writing a monthly column for Your Smithfield Magazine. Ted was a vice president of the Arts Club, a member of the AE club, the Athenaeum, and the Dunes Club in Rhode Island and the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase MD. Ted and his wife Susan, who met in 1991, shared their love of global travel, movies, the opera and ballet, dancing and walking on beaches. They differed on his passion for the Boston Red Socks and the New England Patriots. He had a genuine love for his wife, his children and grandchildren of whom he was so proud. Ted also loved the warmth of an intimate Italian pasta dinner with a good glass of red wine or two, as well as the joyfulness of the Christmas holiday season, which he celebrated with great enthusiasm. From a friend, “Ted was one of the friendliest, kindest, gentlest, smartest and funniest guys I’ve ever met.” Another friend, “he was brilliant, temperamental, funny, charming, extroverted, loyal to friends, passionate about things he believed in, serious about his work but not about himself, and sometimes utterly outrageous.” Ted passed away quietly at home in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 12, 2015, after a valiant struggle with cancer and its effects. He is survived by his wife, Susan Bokern; his children Ingrid Holmberg (Sean Cheesman), Erik Holmberg (Ronna Kress), Teodor James Holmberg; his sister Lillian Holmberg; a grandson, Samuel Holmberg; and his first cousin Norman Enger (Marianne). He was predeceased by his grandson Harry Holmberg.

A service to celebrate Ted’s life will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. in the Joseph E. Hagan Memorial Chapel at Joseph Gawler’s Sons, 5130 Wisconsin Avenue NW (corner of Harrison Street), Washington, DC 20016. A reception will immediately follow the service at the family home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society. Family and friends are invited to visit www.josephgawlers.com for additional information.