In high school, Ted and I knew one another only casually. With different interests and different friends, our lives headed along different paths with Fort Pierce Central as our only common ground. A decade-plus after high school, our paths crossed again. This time in Balsam, NC, a small community in the Blue Ridge mountains about 30 minutes west of Asheville. My wife’s grandfather had built a summer home in Balsam in 1929, and the family spent their summers there. Ted’s parents had also bought a summer home in Balsam and in the early 1990s decided to move from Fort Pierce and settle there permanently year-round toward retirement. Ted moved to Balsam to help out his dad, who started Walsh’s Automotive in nearby Waynesville. Through the years I frequently saw Ted in Balsam during summer visits to my in-laws. Balsam’s a close-kit community, and everyone thought well of Ted as a helpful neighbor and a well-versed mechanic. He devoted his time off to enjoying the quiet mountain life with his wife, Lynne, and their two children. One Christmas, he and his dad drove their new 4-wheelers to our side of the mountain and picked up our two young sons for a joy ride along the mountain trails. Sometime later I stopped by the garage to thank him. Despite starting cancer treatment, he was still the same Ted…quick smile and a natural goodness. We laughed about how two flatlanders from Fort Pierce had landed in the Blue Ridge mountains. We shared an unspoken affection for the quiet mountain life. My wife and I also later bought a home there. Ted passed away in 2002 before his 50th birthday. Per his request, his family spread his ashes throughout the Balsam mountains he loved so dearly. To this day, as I venture along the mountain trails, I think of Ted in remembrance of a life lived well, albeit too brief.
Patrick Monahan
In high school, Ted and I knew one another only casually. With different interests and different friends, our lives headed along different paths with Fort Pierce Central as our only common ground. A decade-plus after high school, our paths crossed again. This time in Balsam, NC, a small community in the Blue Ridge mountains about 30 minutes west of Asheville. My wife’s grandfather had built a summer home in Balsam in 1929, and the family spent their summers there. Ted’s parents had also bought a summer home in Balsam and in the early 1990s decided to move from Fort Pierce and settle there permanently year-round toward retirement. Ted moved to Balsam to help out his dad, who started Walsh’s Automotive in nearby Waynesville. Through the years I frequently saw Ted in Balsam during summer visits to my in-laws. Balsam’s a close-kit community, and everyone thought well of Ted as a helpful neighbor and a well-versed mechanic. He devoted his time off to enjoying the quiet mountain life with his wife, Lynne, and their two children. One Christmas, he and his dad drove their new 4-wheelers to our side of the mountain and picked up our two young sons for a joy ride along the mountain trails. Sometime later I stopped by the garage to thank him. Despite starting cancer treatment, he was still the same Ted…quick smile and a natural goodness. We laughed about how two flatlanders from Fort Pierce had landed in the Blue Ridge mountains. We shared an unspoken affection for the quiet mountain life. My wife and I also later bought a home there. Ted passed away in 2002 before his 50th birthday. Per his request, his family spread his ashes throughout the Balsam mountains he loved so dearly. To this day, as I venture along the mountain trails, I think of Ted in remembrance of a life lived well, albeit too brief.