Joseph M. Theodore, Jr., 83, died Friday, April 10, 2015 at his residence in Ada, Ohio. He was born April 29, 1931, to Joseph Medeiros Theodore Sr. and Lillian Lima Theodore in Fall River, Mass.
Accepted to the New England Conservatory of Music after high school, he continued his musical training there before changing direction to a career in Pharmacy and Education.
He earned a BS from the New England College of Pharmacy in 1955 and married Theresa Rouleau that same year.
He received a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1958.
He became Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at Northeastern University in Boston (’58-’66) while completing his Ph. D from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1965.
The family moved to Ada, in 1966 where he became an Associate Professor of Pharmacy and the Department Chair at Ohio Northern University and was promoted to Professor in 1972. During his 32 years at ONU, he taught and mentored thousands of pharmacy students.
He created and developed the Clinical Pharmacy Internship program at ONU and served as an advisor to the Kappa Psi pharmacy fraternity. He was awarded the ONU Pharmacy Alumni Chair in 1995-96. Prior to his retirement in 1998, he led the curriculum committee that developed the Doctor of Pharmacy program.
He served a term as president of the Ada PTA where his five children all attended. He was a soloist, cantor, occasional choir director, and guitarist at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church for nearly 50 years, providing music for countless weekend services, weddings and funerals and mentoring other cantors.
He is survived by his wife, Terry, of nearly 60 years, and by children: Karen (Gene) Harris, Richard (Paula) Theodore, Sharon (Mark) Athearn, Carolyn Theodore (Mark Mecenas) and Lauren (Louis) Mazzoli.
Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, April 13 at Hanson-Neely Funeral Home in Ada. A Rosary Service will be held at 8 p.m. on Monday at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Tuesday, April 14 at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Ada with Father David Young officiating. He will be laid to rest in his ancestral burial plot in Notre Dame Cemetery in Fall River, Mass.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network www.pancan.org or www.purplestride.org/columbus or Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
