Ted Judson

1955 - 2022

Ted Judson
May 28, 1955 – January 16, 2022
Ted Judson, beloved father, husband, brother, and friend, died on January 16th at his San Francisco home, following a courageous fight with cancer. He was surrounded by his family. Ted leaves behind his wife Leigh; his three children Kendall (wife of Jesse Corby), Sally (wife of Charlie Martin), and Philo; a granddaughter Louise; and his five brothers Bob, Gil, Hunter, Douglass, and Duncan.

Born on May 28, 1955 in Winnetka, Illinois, Ted was one of six sons of Robert Judson and Mary Scribner Judson. Ted graduated from The Taft School (1973) and Trinity College (1977), where he played goalie on the varsity hockey and lacrosse teams. He made lifelong friendships that he continued to celebrate through class reunions, fly fishing adventures, annual concerts at the Beacon Theatre and spontaneous get-togethers. He then earned his MBA at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management where his mother attended as an undergraduate.

Ted was heading for the financial world, but seeing how people could actually make a living being creative, he made a beeline to Ketchum Advertising in San Francisco. He then joined Electronic Arts where he worked for over 22 years creating and marketing electronic video games. Ted would always say with a twinkle in his eye that he was a parent's worst nightmare and the most popular adult among kids.

In 1991, Ted was introduced to Bishop Robert Morse, an Anglican priest who became a lifelong mentor and close friend. Morse urged Ted to read Boris Pasternak's novel, Doctor Zhivago. Why? "Because," replied the bishop, "Zhivago is the Russian word for life. And, Ted, you are right in the middle of it." Ted would go on to read Doctor Zhivago and recite the poems from the end of the book countless times. He eventually became intimately involved in the Anglican Church in the Bay Area, serving for 25 years on the governing committee of St. Thomas and on the board of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Foundation. He also negotiated a key purchase of St. Anne Chapel in Palo Alto from the Luce Foundation.
Ted was a part of two startups that continue to this day, TrustedPeer and Artistory...but it was his final job with the Manitou Fund that really embraced his innate ability to connect people and to be a valuable member of a philanthropic effort to make grants to worthy global causes. Some of his proudest accomplishments were funding homelessness organizations (many in the San Francisco area), food banks, global health projects and environmental non-profits. His easy going, sincere disposition was known and appreciated by many around the world.

Ted wanted to be buried just outside his beloved Wausaukee Club, where as a boy he learned to fly fish and sail and his family would gather every summer to enjoy the beauty of the lake and surrounding woods. His daughter, Kendall, wrote of her father's devotion to family and friends: "The people he loved were the most valued thing in the world…He had 'The Luckiest Man' engraved on a silver cup…Even at the end, he said life hadn't cheated him…he had cheated life because he was still the luckiest man."

Until a proper memorial party is announced, Kendall suggests that friends and family simply remember her dad and, "Put on an Allman Brothers song, raise a glass of Mount Gay, and be thankful for the love in your life. Here's to the luckiest man."