He Cares and He Carves

Ted’s gift is seeing possibilities and working to make what’s possible visible.

He worked to bring out the best in people in his career as a clinical psychologist helping sailors, soldiers and their families address substance abuse issues. Now that he’s retired after 45 years of service, his hobby is bringing out what’s beautiful and best from “ordinary” pieces of wood.

Ted is a retired psychologist and wood carver, pictured here with one of his treasured canes. (staff photo)

The beautiful and intricately carved canes, walking sticks and candlestick holders he carves are treasures that veterans, his friends and family members cherish.

The Hereford, Texas native spent much of his younger years in cattle country in Texas and South Dakota. He watched friends and neighbors hand carve wood on Saturday mornings. When in high school he told himself “I can learn to carve.”

The magic happens in his woodshop in Chapman – where Ted artfully transforms pieces of pine, hickory, oak, walnut and other woods into treasures. The intricate patterns on his pieces include leaves, shapes, shipwrecks, submarines, and religious scenes.

Many of Teds’s friends, family members, veterans and wounded warriors have one of his canes and walking sticks. He creates some pieces to honor special people.

One of his latest is a beautiful cane carved for in honor of Jan, the center manager of Chapman’s Senior Center. Jan’s cane made from American elm features her initials, sunflowers and wheat, a shamrock and initials for Chapman High School and a cross for the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Just as the carved canes and walking sticks help provide balance, stability and support to people—Ted’s service as a clinical psychologist has helped sailors, soldiers and their families gain and maintain balance in their lives.

Ted worked for the VA Hospital in South Dakota, Europe, the Orient and several other states before coming to Fort Riley in 1998 to serve as a manager with the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), a program whose services included drug prevention, employee assistance and suicide prevention. Under Ted’s leadership, the ASAP program received Stalwart Awards for innovation, problem solving and for serving service members and their families.

Through Ted’s persistence, Fort Riley inaugurated the "Save a Soldier’s Life" program, an initiative to to address and treat soldiers’ addictions and help soldiers, family members and army civilians overcome challenges of illicit drug use, prescription medications and alcohol abuse.

Ted is also very proud of Fort Riley’s Suicide Prevention Program, which oversees quality, prevention and intervention training to promote and build help-seeking behaviors and reduce the stigma around asking for help – a program which has been embraced Army-wide.

This excerpt is from a feature article written by Sharon Berner that appeared in the July-August-September 2019 edition of Keynotes. If you would like your own subscription to Keynotes, please contact us.