Theodore R. Kauss
April 8, 1931 ~ December 30, 2017
Theodore R. Kauss
Dr. Theodore R. Kauss, PhD., age 86, passed away peacefully from natural causes on December 30, 2017. Ted was born in Milwaukee, WI on April 8, 1931, to George (Bosco) and Gertrude (Gertie-Steltz) Kauss. He is preceded in death by his parents, his loving wife of 55 years Yvonne Kauss (Ware), brother George, sister Germaine, father-in-law Jerome, mother-in-law Ruth, brother-in-law John Beard, and best friends, Curly Eggleston and Tom Johnson. He is survived by his children; William, Nancy, and Randy Kauss of Centennial, Colorado, and Mary (Robert) Reeves of Plano, Texas, grandchildren; Kerrie (Mark) Sheedy, Roger Kauss, Austin and Michael Reeves, great-granddaughter Charlotte Jane Sheedy. Also, surviving Ted: sister-in-law Nancy Beard, brothers-in-law Robert Ware and Russell Ware, numerous nieces and nephews including Bob and Jim Burlington; Jackie Anderson, Bob, Laura, and Jack Beard; Kenny, Karen, and Lynn Kauss; Anita, Vicki, David, and Robby Ware.
Ted, nicknamed “twinkle toes,” won numerous track and field medals from the state of Wisconsin. He was an all-city tailback at Milwaukee’s Juneau High School and lettered in football, basketball, and track. He played short-center fielder on the Steltz Plumbing Adult Softball team in 1960 when they won the Milwaukee Adult League.
Ted and Vonnie were members of the Methodist Church, and Ted served on numerous boards. Ted was an avid outdoorsman and loved hunting, fishing, and golfing with his friends in Waterford, Wisconsin and at the family cabin at Bass Lake. Ted was a loyal Packer fan but also loved his Denver Broncos!
Ted received a BA from State Teachers College (UW Milwaukee), an MS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Ph.D., from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Subsequently, he was a Senior Consultant, CMP, Chicago, Illinois, Dean and Acting President, Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana, Executive Director, Frost Foundation, Denver, Colorado, where he was involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors. Lastly, he was the managing partner of TWK Consultants, Inc., Denver and Chicago.
A graveside funeral will be held at Ft. Logan National Cemetery on January 19, 2017, at 10:15 am. The family will host a reception for Ted’s friends and family at Ted and Vonnie’s home immediately following the service. Flowers can be sent to the family or the funeral home. Please send donations to a charity of your choice. Please sign the guestbook.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
Dad, you will be missed! We love you and know you are in heaven with mom right now.
Love to you Mary and your family. Ted was such a wonderful man and I'll bet he's so happy in heaven with your mom💕
Prayers are with you and your family. I see where your beautiful smile and love of education come from.
Dear Kauss Family,
We are so sorry for your loss. Ted was an amazing person and wonderful role model.
Our family always enjoyed your visits to the farm to do a little hunting and chat with Les & Grace.
They are all at peace now. We hope they are having a grand reunion right now!
Sincere condolences,
Lynn & Leslie Ludtke and family
Thanks to Ted for his confidence in me and having me apply to the masters in teaching program at Northwestern which he directed. I think Ted had more confidence in me than I had at the time. To his everlasting integrity, everything Ted told me about NU and the MAT program became absolutely true. He was a great mentor both during my grad school years and in life following. Though we live distantly apart over the past several decades, my continuing involvement with Northwestern is Ted's legacy in my life. Bless his soul!
Our thoughts & prayers are with the family. My husband will always remember hunting with your dad on the Lackey farm. What amazing person he was.
Bill & Rosie Heck
Randy and Nancy, my deepest sympathy on the passing of your Dad. Have fond memories of him yelling at Bernard Toon and Marquette du.. the College Championship game many years ago.. Sending light, patience, strength, understanding energy a
nd love during this time of transition and change. I guess we have finally reached the age where we seem to have more taken away than given.
While I only had the pleasure of knowing Ted for 9 short months, I am forever changed and touched by his steadfast mindset and intense passion and pride in his family. Wishing peace and comfort to Mary, Bill, Nancy, and Randy in the coming days/weeks/months as you remember both of your parents and find the balance in your new daily routines.
Ted was a fellow Milwaukeean, a mentor in my early years at Northwestern, a member of my doctoral committee there, and a true friend. We played touch football, watched the Packers at his house with Vonnie and (at the time) the kids, and were members of Phi Delta Kappa. When I moved from Chicago to Evanston in the summer of 1969, Ted helped me unload furniture into my "garden apartment" on Asbury Avenue. My wife Jeanne and I visited him and Vonnie at their home in Denver in the early 1990s–the last time I saw him. He'll always be in my thoughts.