Today, one year ago in the early morning hours in Florida Hospital Orlando, Papa ended his fight. He was 71 years old.
Here is the obituary that I wrote for him. It wasn’t published in his hometown paper. A shorter more mundane version was published. Momma didn’t think his Pennsylvania family would get it. She was probably right.
Dennis “Papa” Teets
Dennis “Papa” Teets died in Orlando, Florida on January 8th surrounded by his family at the age of 71.
He is survived by his mother, Beatrice, sister Cindy, his brother Dale, his wife, Patricia, son, Eric, stepchildren, Katherine, Marie, Frederick and Lucinda, grandchildren, Fredrick, Thomas, Emma and Anika. He is preceded into death by his beloved cat, Rambo.
He was born on April 14th, 1946, in Uniontown, PA. It was said when he was born, you could see the devil in his eyes.
He proudly served in the U.S. Army and spent a career working for the GSA. He was a slayer of demons and rescuer of damsels in distress, unless ocean waves were involved.
He wasn’t a perfect man. He didn’t always have the right words, but he loved his family and hated when he hurt them.
His family was his world. He liked to cause minor mischief reserving major mischief for leap years or when no one was looking. No one was good enough for his daughters and he always wondered where the second half of their skirts went to.
On August 3, 2018, he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery .
Lucinda Rose 