07/13/2022
Wanted to be certain those who spent time in the English dept were made aware of the sad news regarding Dr. Billy’s passing.
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of retired English professor, Theodore (Ted) Billy. Ted served as a great asset to the Saint Mary’s community for 32 years. We ask that you keep Ted and those who loved him in your thoughts and prayers. Here is a personal reflection from History professor and longtime friend of Ted’s, Bill Svelmoe:
"A word about my/our friend Ted Billy.
It has been gratifying to read the outpouring of love for Ted and grief at his loss from the Saint Mary's community. Ted was what a Saint Mary's professor should be. His door always open to students. His words always kind. His thoughts always generous. We taught together for a decade or more, and I sat with him so often as he struggled to find the words to soften even the toughest of grades, how to graciously help even the poorest of students to take the next step. And, of course, how proud he was of his students' success. We clinked a glass many times in my office at the end of a semester that saw our first-year students, so new to college life, achieve, by December, the level of competence that would sustain them through the next four years.
What a gift Ted was to his fellow professors! His wit, his puns, his charm, his conversation at your office door, his levity and leavening of the endless meetings. I began every day of the fall semester by strolling across the suite to Ted's door and then walking with him to our tandem class, and, even when we got ourselves trapped in the elevator, perhaps especially when we got ourselves trapped in the elevator, the conversations were always intelligent and filled with humor. The man was unflappable. And never at a loss for words.
The South Bend theater community has lost a great advocate. That we will never again hear that laugh, that distinctive laugh, from the darkness of the seats, and know that Ted is out there, well, there are no words for a loss like that. How often through the years I mentioned backstage to a fellow actor, My friend Ted Billy is here tonight. Do you hear that laugh?!
And, of course, the deepest wound is for the friend we have lost. Friendship is a daily thing. I suppose by its very nature, it is taken for granted. It is as fleeting as a thought. Ted will find today’s Wordle challenging. Ted will be as excited as I am that UCLA and USC are joining the Big Ten. Or maybe he won’t be pleased at all. Let’s find out. I bet Ted would like this TV show. Oh, this pun is going to send Ted over the moon.
And then that thought is gone. Or rather, the thought is there, but the friend is gone. And that realization is not a fleeting thing.
What I want people to remember, or to know, about Ted, is that being Ted Billy was not an easy thing. Ted’s humor, his grace, his love for all of us, was hard won. His life was difficult. It was painful. His physical challenges were immense. His emotional challenges were immense. It was not obvious, or easy, or the natural arc of a life, that this tiny man would grow such a big heart. It is easy to imagine a life so difficult trending another direction.
Ted often told our students his story. How hard it was to always be the smallest boy in the schoolroom and on the playground. How desperately he wanted to grow. How many medications and hormones he took to try to just be a normal-sized boy. Nothing worked. At one point they were considering breaking his legs and implanting rods to make him taller.
At this point, his family physician sat down with him. He urged Ted not to follow this gruesome path. That Ted Billy was short. Would always be short. That this is who he was. “Teddy,” he said, “you need to accept who you are and just focus on being the best Ted Billy you can be.”
And, so, that is what Ted did. And what a beautiful project he made of his life. What a beautiful Ted Billy he became. What a beautiful Ted Billy we will remember."
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