I just got sad news from our friend Ted Owen, who was a committed WoodCentral denizen and Hand Tools forum moderator for many years in the early 2000s. Rather than editorialize his note, I'll pass it along. I don't know how many of you remember Ted, but he's a big, gentle, accomplished man whose run is being cut tragically short. All I can do is wish him the best. I thought you might want to share in my grief.....
Hello Ellis—
Unfortunately my dream—really expectation—of spending my final 20 years doing woodworking and making projects for family, friends, and charities now has suddenly--and without warning--become impossible. I had been experiencing what I thought was a recurrent flu for a few months. Guess I would have made a terrible medical doctor, as instead I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare and deadly form of cancer, Ampullary Cancer--which attacks only men over the age of 70. I can expect to live 2-15 months, with Chemo Therapy, which started a month ago. I am told no one has ever been cured, only 5 percent having enjoyed a period of remission.
The diagnosis came as a shock, there being no recorded case of any cancer on either side of the family going back 7 generations, as best we can tell. Never having required any surgical procedure nor having been a patient in a hospital since 1979, I never suspected cancer would cut short what has been a very fortunate and blessed life. Though I feel perfectly normal right now, that likely will change soon enough.
Yet being healthy until just months before leaving this Earth, is quite a short illness in the scheme of things—and yet another blessing, for all of which I am thankful.
While this note is indeed a goodbye, more importantly I want you to know how much the time we worked together (for me playing, really) on WoodCentral meant. Even more impactful, Ellis, is your personal example of how men should act in this life—as the three generations of Owen men before me during their lifetimes—with a primary focus on serving others. It was my privilege to have known you.
I wish everyone there the very best fortune and blessings. One day perhaps we’ll meet up again—that would be yet another lucky day for me!
Best, your true friend, Ted Owen
Losing a friend
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