Theodore A. Fails

Theodore “Ted” Andrew Fails, 75, of Cleveland, passed away Sunday, June 9, 2024 after a life lived uncompromisingly his way.

His family laid him to rest at Western Reserve Memorial Gardens in Chester Township on June 13.Born July 30, 1948 in Cleveland,

Ted called Northeast Ohio home for most of his life, graduating from Kirtland High School in 1966 and receiving his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Hiram College in 1970.After college he pursued his passion for racing cars, collecting a case full of trophies like his father’s.

He later moved to Utah, where he became an avid outdoorsman — skiing, fly fishing, and summitting peaks on his trusty red mountain bike. When he returned to Kirtland with his family in 1996, he would ride the same bike through Ohio’s forests. Later, rigged with a bounce-proof basket of his own design, it would become his favorite mode of transportation.

A talented tool and die maker, Ted never stopped studying mathematics – and he believed it was never too early to start. In his daughters’ earliest memories, they can picture him, yellow legal pad in hand, demonstrating the meaning of tangents and vectors before bedtime.

He was also passionate about music, immersing himself in the complete works of his favorite composers, from Mozart to Miles Davis. His daughters have only just forgiven his Bela Bartok phase.

Ted was many things throughout his life – entrepreneur, inventor, steam engine enthusiast, poolhall shark – but most of all, he was Dad. His family will remember his insatiable appetite for learning, his truly insufferable puns (he’d no doubt have asked for bereave-mints in lieu of flowers), and his uncompromising nature.

He is survived by his daughters, US Army veteran Patricia Ann Fails, Tracie Marie (Josh) Silberberg, and Stephanie Leigh (Steve) Mergler; grandchildren, Anna Silberberg and Cedric Silberberg; and brothers, Gary (Theresa) Fails and Fred (Marcia Pavlou) Barnett. He also leaves behind many nieces and nephews and their families.

He was preceded in death by his father, US Navy veteran Harvey S. Fails; his mother, Ann (Hadbavny) Fails; and his dogs, Kitsie I and Kitsie II.