Edwin "Ted" H. May, III

Edwin “Ted” H. May III, of Cromwell, CT, and Palm Coast, FL, passed away peacefully at home on June 22, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. Throughout his 77 years, Ted had a profound impact on so many lives, and is remembered for his smile, his humor, his humility, his commitment to community and his unwavering love for his wife, Debbie, and their family.

The son of Edwin H. May Jr. and Jean Blease May, Ted was born in Hartford, CT, and spent the majority of his life in Wethersfield. He attended Wethersfield High School and received his Bachelor’s degree from Williams College, where he was co-captain of the golf team and helped lead the Ephs to the New England championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament. Ted achieved Eagle Scout designation and served on active duty in the CT National Guard.

In 1971 at Hawk’s Nest Beach in Old Lyme, CT, Ted met the woman who would become his best friend and wife of 53 years, Deborah Wheeler May. They married two years later and settled in Wethersfield, where they raised their three children.

Ted started his career in a management training program at the Phoenix Companies. He then formed his own insurance business and in 1985, he and Phil Bonee founded what eventually became May, Bonee & Walsh, a Hartford-area independent insurance and financial services firm. Ted remained active in the business and its successor firm, May, Bonee & Clark, until his retirement in January 2026.

Ted’s impact on his community is celebrated most notably for his 50+ years of leadership roles across the game of golf, including with the PGA Tour’s Greater Hartford Open (‘GHO’), now Travelers Championship, as well as his founding and leadership of The First Tee of Connecticut, which has served over one million kids across CT since its founding in 1999.

In 1952, Ed May, Ted’s father and former U.S. Congressman, helped found the Insurance City Open, the predecessor to the GHO and the Travelers Championship. Ted continued his father’s legacy by first volunteering for the then Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open in the mid-1970s. In 1983, he served as Chairman of The Last Blast at Wethersfield, the final tournament before its relocation to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. Ted became a member of the tournament’s Management Committee in 1982 and, for more than two decades, served as the liaison between the tournament and the PGA Tour, with responsibilities for player recruitment and long-range planning. At the national level, Ted served on the Board of the American Golf Sponsors Association for over a decade, including as AGS President and its representative on the PGA Tour Policy Board.

When the GHO lost its title sponsor in 2001, Ted was among a small group of local leaders who helped save the longest running professional sports event in Connecticut and ultimately helped bridge to what has become the Travelers Championship. Ted remained on the tournament’s Board of Directors until his passing, which fittingly occurred on the first day of tournament week.

Beyond his work with the tournament, Ted devoted himself to expanding the game’s reach as the “founding father” and driving force behind the First Tee of Connecticut (‘TFTCT’). What started in 1999 as Hartford Mayor Mike’s golf program with 18 youngsters, has grown to serve 70,000 kids annually across the state. Ted was instrumental in bringing together Northeast Utilities, the PGA Tour, TPC River Highlands and local leaders to build TFTCT’s headquarters, a dedicated facility adjacent to TPC River Highlands. From TFTCT’s founding until his passing, Ted served on the Board of Directors as Chairman and Chairman Emeritus. Beginning in 2018, Ted and his wife, Debbie, helped establish and grow the First Tee of Morocco, which today operates locations in seven cities across the country.

For all his contributions, Ted was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Half of Fame and received a number of golf and civic honors, including the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance’s Gold Key Award, the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce’s Most Outstanding Citizen Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hartford Business Journal, and the First Tee’s prestigious Jack Stephens Leadership Award, named in honor of the former Chairman of August National Golf Club and a founder of the national First Tee.

Ted was a 20+ year member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland, and a long-time member of Wethersfield Country Club, TPC River Highlands, Taconic Golf Club, and Hammock Beach; as well as several state and national golf associations including the CT Seniors and the US Seniors.

Ted’s selfless commitment to community and service also underpinned a fifty-year record of volunteer service to Williams College. He served as Class Secretary, Class Treasurer for over 50 years, as Class Agent and Regional Special Gifts Vice Chairman, as an Admission Representative for the Hartford region, and on six reunion committees, while also serving on the Parents Council and the Alumni Golf Tournament Committee. In 2017, he received the Purple with Purpose Regional Recognition, Williams' award for volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the College's mission. He loved the Purple Valley and looked forward to the alumni golf tournament each July; first partnering with his father, and then with his son, Ned.

Ted is survived by his best friend and beloved wife of 53 years, Debbie; their children, Heather and Mike Eckert of Lakeville, CT; Ned and Barbara May of Darien, CT, and Kevin May of Rocky Hill, CT; his adoring grandchildren, Cormac, Reece, Mather, Teddy, Eliza and James who loved their “Boppi”; his two sisters and their families, and by Debbie’s three siblings and their families, who over the decades also became family to Ted in every sense of the word.

A memorial celebration of Ted’s life will be held on Tuesday, June 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Church of Christ, 250 Main Street, Wethersfield. The family will receive relatives and friends on Monday, June 29 from 3-7 p.m. at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Boulevard, Wethersfield. In addition, a celebration will take place in the fall in Palm Coast, FL. Memorial contributions may be made in Ted’s name to The First Tee of Connecticut, an organization near and dear to him and his family.