Theodor Wilhelm Kaltenberg was born in Hoyerswerda, Germany on April 6th 1939 shortly before the start of World War II.  The stories he would tell of his youth would leave us in bewilderment, running into the forest while civilian trains were bombed, then nearly missing the train as it left and seeing Dresden in flames are just a few memories he would share. Amidst the chaos he would endure, the family would finally call Köln home. There he and his brother, Hans-Georg innocently played in the rubble, would have normalcy and create mischief.  At 12 years of age, his theatrics would bring about real change in his life. St. Blasien, a boarding school in the Black Forest was welcomed.  There he would learn subjects such as Latin, Greek and Jesuit teachings (a ruler had more than one use), independent thinking and life long friends. He spoke of his life there with great enthusiasm, captivating stories that left a lasting impression on him as well as us. 

       After boarding school, he would attend the  Universität Hochschule München, where he would receive his diploma in mechanical engineering. With the backdrop of the Bavarian Alps, he met the love of his life, Christa. He also developed an intense love for nature and mountaineering, a love which would continue the remainder of his life.  Even if age and family forced him from sleeping in bivouac tents on rock faces, to walking a simple forest trails. 

       In 1964 he moved to and from several places in Canada and the US for work and further studies. In 1966 he and Christa married and in 1968 they had their first child, Tony, before eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay Area. His lust for life and talents in engineering kept him on the move as his work sent him to far away places such as Brazil, Australia, Papua New Guinea and South Africa, leaving lasting impressions on him and his family, which by then included his second son, Eric.

      Ted loved soccer since childhood, playing in everyplace he would live. He easily made friends with his disarming nature, connecting on a personal level. He sincerely cared for you and was interested in your life. He helped whomever he could, whether it was a friend that needed a hand or an unfortunate soul for whom he’d always had a rolled up dollar.

      He’d seen Köln in rubble and built again, native villages in far away places, Pele and Beckenbauer play, Machu Pichu, been a cook on a fishing boat, held a Tasmanian devil, and hit a hole in one ... All in all he’d lived a life many dream of. His sons and wife would love to go on one more adventure together, share one more laugh, one more favorite meal …as long as it involved potatoes … and watch reruns of the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup … for the thousandth time. We cherish you. We had such a good life largely because of you. We miss you so much.

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