Obituary: Saldin, Theodore Roy “Ted”
Age 93
Ted was born on December 30, 1920, in Coleharbor, North Dakota, to Joseph and Florence Saldin, the youngest of nine children.
He grew up and attended school in Coleharbor until 1936, when his parents and his five brothers, Don, Dick, Bob, Jim, and John, moved to Missoula for better opportunities during the depression.
Ted’s sisters Jo, Val, and Jeanette, already married, remained in North Dakota.
Always an advocate for education, Ted received a BA from the University of Montana, followed by work for Arthur Anderson Company in Los Angeles and then in Boston.
He received an MBA from Harvard in 1946, and was a Professor at Ohio University.
Upon completion of his Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington, Ted taught at Washington State University for 40 years until his retirement in 1988.
His assignments included service as the first University Ombudsman, two years on an international development project at the University of Lahore in Pakistan in 1954/56, and a year teaching at the University of Texas in Austin.
As an attorney, CPA and educator, Ted maintained strong professional ties throughout the state.
He is remembered by countless students for how he connected them with employers and followed their careers and families.
Ted married Eva Jean Fisher in 1949.
They lived in Pullman over 50 years and raised their five children.
Together they appreciated family, the community, the rich farmland of the Palouse, the academic environment at WSU and Cougar sports.
Ted served on Pullman’s City Council and Senior Assistance Programs in Eastern Washington.
Jean passed away in 2000.
Ted continued to live in Pullman until 2009 when he moved to California to join his son’s family, John and Connie Saldin, in El Segundo.
Surviving are Ted and Jean’s five children, Sharon (and Gary) O’Mary of San Diego, James (and Bertie) Saldin of Tucson, Arizona, Susan (and Norm) Strong of Seattle, John (and Connie) Saldin of El Segundo, Ronald (and Kim) Saldin of Camano Island; 11 grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews and their families.
Ted is remembered and missed for his kindness, intelligence, sense of humor, humility, generosity; a mentor to all who knew him.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 7th, at 2 pm at the Heritage Funeral Chapel.
Sentiments, remembrances and stories of Ted can be emailed to the family at jsaldins@aol.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to one of these organizations: 1) Senior Assistance Fund of Eastern Washington, 1222 N. Post, Spokane, 99201; 2) “The President’s Excellence Fund,” WSU Foundation, PO Box 641927, Pullman, WA 99164-1927; or 3) “The Ted Saldin Distinguished Professorship in Accounting Endowment,” WSU Foundation, PO Box 641927, Pullman, WA 99164-1927.