Edward Thornton (Ted) Egan, the son of Bartholomew Patrick Egan and Elizabeth Thornton Egan was born August 22, 1931 in Lincoln, Nebraska and passed away on May 8, 2019 at Little Rock, Arkansas at the age of 87 years.
Ted was a contractor and build many homes and businesses in Heber Springs and Cleburne County. He was a legacy member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity of the University of Nebraska. He enjoyed building furniture, woodworking, and volunteering at the hospital auxillary.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Ruth Ann "Ann" Egan and a daughter Amy Egan Swain. Survivors are his daughter Beth Egan and husband Medhat El-Sabawy of Albuquerque, New Mexicon, oldest child and son, Keith Egan and wife Paula of Cincinnati, Ohio and son-in-law Jeff Swain of North Little Rock. Ted is also survived by two grandchildren, Sarah Egan and Michael Egan and Michael's then fiance, now wife, Cassie Schindler Egan and a life-long friend Dr. Michael Barnett and many friends but only a few relatives.
We are blessed that daddy live a long and vigorous life. He lived on his own, drove his little Kia Soul, made trips to the liquor store with Dr. Mike and volunteered at the hospital and was "with it" until the end when he died suddently of cardiac arrest to due hypovolemia caused by an acute G.I. blood loss. We believe he did not suffer but went to mom and Amy, and the rest of his family peacefully.
Rebekah Askins wrote a nice eulogy that was read at the wedding: Ted was one of a kind. I always appreciated him because he never hesitated to “tell it like it is”. If you were doing something stupid, he’d tell you. This was never more apparent to me than the weekend Ted came to Memphis to help my husband and me build an outdoor playset in the backyard for my kids.
Now, to really understand this story, and to really understand Ted, you need to know that Ted spent weeks analyzing probably a hundred building plans to find a playset that would be perfect for my kids, budget friendly for us and easy enough to be constructed by two completely inexperienced builders such as myself. (I assure you that this was no easy task, but it was one Ted took on and knocked it out of the park)
After he settled on the perfect plan, he began his meticulous preparation for it. He cut and measured every single board in Heber and then he loaded them all into his truck (I’m still not sure how he managed that), and drove them to Memphis. And if you know Ted, it should come as no surprise to you that everything in the back of that truck labeled, doubled labeled in fact, some triple labeled and of course, color coded-even down to the wood screws themselves.
Now, when it came to the actual construction of the playset, the deal had been that we’d provide the labor, Ted would provide the direction, and we’d keep him supplied with the lemonade. That was a great weekend for us-Ted taught us about appreciation and pride that comes with being able to build something with our own hands-something he was very skilled at. And I’ll never forget how I finally felt like I’d found my groove and I was feeling pretty confident of my newly mastered skills when Ted, with lemonade in hand, looked at me and said, “You don’t know what the hell youre doing, doing you?”
I loved that man. He called it like he saw it and he kept you grounded. He also showed me what’s it’s like to be determined-perhaps some would call it stubborn. We finally reached the point in the playset building process where we were ready begin the construction of the Gable Roof; the plan all along had been to let my 6’3 husband handle this part of the job since he was, well, 6’3”. Only we happened to come upon this part while Chris was out getting us lunch. Clearly, I wasn’t tall enough to reach it, so I suggested that we wait til Chris returned to continue.
Apparently, I could not have been more wrong.
As those words were coming out of my mouth I am watched Ted ascend the ladder with a power tool in hand. I remember watching in absolute fear as this 83 year old man (in middle of the Memphis summer heat) was balancing on the “this is not a step” step of the this rickety ladder putting in wood screws into a board that was just barely within arms reach ABOVE his head! I just remember holding my breath and repeating to myself over and over, “Beth is gonna kill me!” But that was Ted-nothing was going to stop him or keep him down.
He was a great man. He was honest and sometimes could seem rough around the edges but also always gentle and kind. I will miss the cards and emails that he would send on birthdays, anniversaries, and mother’s days. I am Grateful that I have memories of him all around my house: that playset that is still standing in my backyard -which has served as a catalyst to countless games and infectious laughter, the bed that he built that my now 10year old has slept in nearly every night of her life since she was born, the bulletin boards that he made the kids where they display their favorite pictures and small trinkets, and even the wooden bins he made to hold the girls’ costumes that sit in our upstairs play room to this day.
My life, my children’s lives, have been better and brighter because of Ted. He will be missed by so many. He gave us so many gifts, but gift of family is by far the most precious of them all. Maybe not family in the traditional sense. But he took us in. He loved us like family simply bc Beth loved us. And we loved him. In that way, he has made our lives infinitely better-I’m sure in the very same ways that I am sure he improved yours.
Ted was a contractor and build many homes and businesses in Heber Springs and Cleburne County. He was a legacy member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity of the University of Nebraska. He enjoyed building furniture, woodworking, and volunteering at the hospital auxillary.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Ruth Ann "Ann" Egan and a daughter Amy Egan Swain. Survivors are his daughter Beth Egan and husband Medhat El-Sabawy of Albuquerque, New Mexicon, oldest child and son, Keith Egan and wife Paula of Cincinnati, Ohio and son-in-law Jeff Swain of North Little Rock. Ted is also survived by two grandchildren, Sarah Egan and Michael Egan and Michael's then fiance, now wife, Cassie Schindler Egan and a life-long friend Dr. Michael Barnett and many friends but only a few relatives.
We are blessed that daddy live a long and vigorous life. He lived on his own, drove his little Kia Soul, made trips to the liquor store with Dr. Mike and volunteered at the hospital and was "with it" until the end when he died suddently of cardiac arrest to due hypovolemia caused by an acute G.I. blood loss. We believe he did not suffer but went to mom and Amy, and the rest of his family peacefully.
Rebekah Askins wrote a nice eulogy that was read at the wedding: Ted was one of a kind. I always appreciated him because he never hesitated to “tell it like it is”. If you were doing something stupid, he’d tell you. This was never more apparent to me than the weekend Ted came to Memphis to help my husband and me build an outdoor playset in the backyard for my kids.
Now, to really understand this story, and to really understand Ted, you need to know that Ted spent weeks analyzing probably a hundred building plans to find a playset that would be perfect for my kids, budget friendly for us and easy enough to be constructed by two completely inexperienced builders such as myself. (I assure you that this was no easy task, but it was one Ted took on and knocked it out of the park)
After he settled on the perfect plan, he began his meticulous preparation for it. He cut and measured every single board in Heber and then he loaded them all into his truck (I’m still not sure how he managed that), and drove them to Memphis. And if you know Ted, it should come as no surprise to you that everything in the back of that truck labeled, doubled labeled in fact, some triple labeled and of course, color coded-even down to the wood screws themselves.
Now, when it came to the actual construction of the playset, the deal had been that we’d provide the labor, Ted would provide the direction, and we’d keep him supplied with the lemonade. That was a great weekend for us-Ted taught us about appreciation and pride that comes with being able to build something with our own hands-something he was very skilled at. And I’ll never forget how I finally felt like I’d found my groove and I was feeling pretty confident of my newly mastered skills when Ted, with lemonade in hand, looked at me and said, “You don’t know what the hell youre doing, doing you?”
I loved that man. He called it like he saw it and he kept you grounded. He also showed me what’s it’s like to be determined-perhaps some would call it stubborn. We finally reached the point in the playset building process where we were ready begin the construction of the Gable Roof; the plan all along had been to let my 6’3 husband handle this part of the job since he was, well, 6’3”. Only we happened to come upon this part while Chris was out getting us lunch. Clearly, I wasn’t tall enough to reach it, so I suggested that we wait til Chris returned to continue.
Apparently, I could not have been more wrong.
As those words were coming out of my mouth I am watched Ted ascend the ladder with a power tool in hand. I remember watching in absolute fear as this 83 year old man (in middle of the Memphis summer heat) was balancing on the “this is not a step” step of the this rickety ladder putting in wood screws into a board that was just barely within arms reach ABOVE his head! I just remember holding my breath and repeating to myself over and over, “Beth is gonna kill me!” But that was Ted-nothing was going to stop him or keep him down.
He was a great man. He was honest and sometimes could seem rough around the edges but also always gentle and kind. I will miss the cards and emails that he would send on birthdays, anniversaries, and mother’s days. I am Grateful that I have memories of him all around my house: that playset that is still standing in my backyard -which has served as a catalyst to countless games and infectious laughter, the bed that he built that my now 10year old has slept in nearly every night of her life since she was born, the bulletin boards that he made the kids where they display their favorite pictures and small trinkets, and even the wooden bins he made to hold the girls’ costumes that sit in our upstairs play room to this day.
My life, my children’s lives, have been better and brighter because of Ted. He will be missed by so many. He gave us so many gifts, but gift of family is by far the most precious of them all. Maybe not family in the traditional sense. But he took us in. He loved us like family simply bc Beth loved us. And we loved him. In that way, he has made our lives infinitely better-I’m sure in the very same ways that I am sure he improved yours.
Edward Thornton (Ted) Egan, the son of Bartholomew Patrick Egan and Elizabeth Thornton Egan was born August 22, 1931 in Lincoln, Nebraska and passed away on May 8, 2019 at Little Rock, Arkansas at the age of 87 years.
Ted was a contractor and build many homes and businesses in Heber Springs and Cleburne County. He was a legacy member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity of the University of Nebraska. He enjoyed building furniture, woodworking, and volunteering at the hospital auxillary.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Ruth Ann "Ann" Egan and a daughter Amy Egan Swain. Survivors are his daughter Beth Egan and husband Medhat El-Sabawy of Albuquerque, New Mexicon, oldest child and son, Keith Egan and wife Paula of Cincinnati, Ohio and son-in-law Jeff Swain of North Little Rock. Ted is also survived by two grandchildren, Sarah Egan and Michael Egan and Michael's then fiance, now wife, Cassie Schindler Egan and a life-long friend Dr. Michael Barnett and many friends but only a few relatives.
We are blessed that daddy live a long and vigorous life. He lived on his own, drove his little Kia Soul, made trips to the liquor store with Dr. Mike and volunteered at the hospital and was "with it" until the end when he died suddently of cardiac arrest to due hypovolemia caused by an acute G.I. blood loss. We believe he did not suffer but went to mom and Amy, and the rest of his family peacefully.
Rebekah Askins wrote a nice eulogy that was read at the wedding: Ted was one of a kind. I always appreciated him because he never hesitated to “tell it like it is”. If you were doing something stupid, he’d tell you. This was never more apparent to me than the weekend Ted came to Memphis to help my husband and me build an outdoor playset in the backyard for my kids.
Now, to really understand this story, and to really understand Ted, you need to know that Ted spent weeks analyzing probably a hundred building plans to find a playset that would be perfect for my kids, budget friendly for us and easy enough to be constructed by two completely inexperienced builders such as myself. (I assure you that this was no easy task, but it was one Ted took on and knocked it out of the park)
After he settled on the perfect plan, he began his meticulous preparation for it. He cut and measured every single board in Heber and then he loaded them all into his truck (I’m still not sure how he managed that), and drove them to Memphis. And if you know Ted, it should come as no surprise to you that everything in the back of that truck labeled, doubled labeled in fact, some triple labeled and of course, color coded-even down to the wood screws themselves.
Now, when it came to the actual construction of the playset, the deal had been that we’d provide the labor, Ted would provide the direction, and we’d keep him supplied with the lemonade. That was a great weekend for us-Ted taught us about appreciation and pride that comes with being able to build something with our own hands-something he was very skilled at. And I’ll never forget how I finally felt like I’d found my groove and I was feeling pretty confident of my newly mastered skills when Ted, with lemonade in hand, looked at me and said, “You don’t know what the hell youre doing, doing you?”
I loved that man. He called it like he saw it and he kept you grounded. He also showed me what’s it’s like to be determined-perhaps some would call it stubborn. We finally reached the point in the playset building process where we were ready begin the construction of the Gable Roof; the plan all along had been to let my 6’3 husband handle this part of the job since he was, well, 6’3”. Only we happened to come upon this part while Chris was out getting us lunch. Clearly, I wasn’t tall enough to reach it, so I suggested that we wait til Chris returned to continue.
Apparently, I could not have been more wrong.
As those words were coming out of my mouth I am watched Ted ascend the ladder with a power tool in hand. I remember watching in absolute fear as this 83 year old man (in middle of the Memphis summer heat) was balancing on the “this is not a step” step of the this rickety ladder putting in wood screws into a board that was just barely within arms reach ABOVE his head! I just remember holding my breath and repeating to myself over and over, “Beth is gonna kill me!” But that was Ted-nothing was going to stop him or keep him down.
He was a great man. He was honest and sometimes could seem rough around the edges but also always gentle and kind. I will miss the cards and emails that he would send on birthdays, anniversaries, and mother’s days. I am Grateful that I have memories of him all around my house: that playset that is still standing in my backyard -which has served as a catalyst to countless games and infectious laughter, the bed that he built that my now 10year old has slept in nearly every night of her life since she was born, the bulletin boards that he made the kids where they display their favorite pictures and small trinkets, and even the wooden bins he made to hold the girls’ costumes that sit in our upstairs play room to this day.
My life, my children’s lives, have been better and brighter because of Ted. He will be missed by so many. He gave us so many gifts, but gift of family is by far the most precious of them all. Maybe not family in the traditional sense. But he took us in. He loved us like family simply bc Beth loved us. And we loved him. In that way, he has made our lives infinitely better-I’m sure in the very same ways that I am sure he improved yours.
Ted was a contractor and build many homes and businesses in Heber Springs and Cleburne County. He was a legacy member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity of the University of Nebraska. He enjoyed building furniture, woodworking, and volunteering at the hospital auxillary.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Ruth Ann "Ann" Egan and a daughter Amy Egan Swain. Survivors are his daughter Beth Egan and husband Medhat El-Sabawy of Albuquerque, New Mexicon, oldest child and son, Keith Egan and wife Paula of Cincinnati, Ohio and son-in-law Jeff Swain of North Little Rock. Ted is also survived by two grandchildren, Sarah Egan and Michael Egan and Michael's then fiance, now wife, Cassie Schindler Egan and a life-long friend Dr. Michael Barnett and many friends but only a few relatives.
We are blessed that daddy live a long and vigorous life. He lived on his own, drove his little Kia Soul, made trips to the liquor store with Dr. Mike and volunteered at the hospital and was "with it" until the end when he died suddently of cardiac arrest to due hypovolemia caused by an acute G.I. blood loss. We believe he did not suffer but went to mom and Amy, and the rest of his family peacefully.
Rebekah Askins wrote a nice eulogy that was read at the wedding: Ted was one of a kind. I always appreciated him because he never hesitated to “tell it like it is”. If you were doing something stupid, he’d tell you. This was never more apparent to me than the weekend Ted came to Memphis to help my husband and me build an outdoor playset in the backyard for my kids.
Now, to really understand this story, and to really understand Ted, you need to know that Ted spent weeks analyzing probably a hundred building plans to find a playset that would be perfect for my kids, budget friendly for us and easy enough to be constructed by two completely inexperienced builders such as myself. (I assure you that this was no easy task, but it was one Ted took on and knocked it out of the park)
After he settled on the perfect plan, he began his meticulous preparation for it. He cut and measured every single board in Heber and then he loaded them all into his truck (I’m still not sure how he managed that), and drove them to Memphis. And if you know Ted, it should come as no surprise to you that everything in the back of that truck labeled, doubled labeled in fact, some triple labeled and of course, color coded-even down to the wood screws themselves.
Now, when it came to the actual construction of the playset, the deal had been that we’d provide the labor, Ted would provide the direction, and we’d keep him supplied with the lemonade. That was a great weekend for us-Ted taught us about appreciation and pride that comes with being able to build something with our own hands-something he was very skilled at. And I’ll never forget how I finally felt like I’d found my groove and I was feeling pretty confident of my newly mastered skills when Ted, with lemonade in hand, looked at me and said, “You don’t know what the hell youre doing, doing you?”
I loved that man. He called it like he saw it and he kept you grounded. He also showed me what’s it’s like to be determined-perhaps some would call it stubborn. We finally reached the point in the playset building process where we were ready begin the construction of the Gable Roof; the plan all along had been to let my 6’3 husband handle this part of the job since he was, well, 6’3”. Only we happened to come upon this part while Chris was out getting us lunch. Clearly, I wasn’t tall enough to reach it, so I suggested that we wait til Chris returned to continue.
Apparently, I could not have been more wrong.
As those words were coming out of my mouth I am watched Ted ascend the ladder with a power tool in hand. I remember watching in absolute fear as this 83 year old man (in middle of the Memphis summer heat) was balancing on the “this is not a step” step of the this rickety ladder putting in wood screws into a board that was just barely within arms reach ABOVE his head! I just remember holding my breath and repeating to myself over and over, “Beth is gonna kill me!” But that was Ted-nothing was going to stop him or keep him down.
He was a great man. He was honest and sometimes could seem rough around the edges but also always gentle and kind. I will miss the cards and emails that he would send on birthdays, anniversaries, and mother’s days. I am Grateful that I have memories of him all around my house: that playset that is still standing in my backyard -which has served as a catalyst to countless games and infectious laughter, the bed that he built that my now 10year old has slept in nearly every night of her life since she was born, the bulletin boards that he made the kids where they display their favorite pictures and small trinkets, and even the wooden bins he made to hold the girls’ costumes that sit in our upstairs play room to this day.
My life, my children’s lives, have been better and brighter because of Ted. He will be missed by so many. He gave us so many gifts, but gift of family is by far the most precious of them all. Maybe not family in the traditional sense. But he took us in. He loved us like family simply bc Beth loved us. And we loved him. In that way, he has made our lives infinitely better-I’m sure in the very same ways that I am sure he improved yours.
Inscription
Edward T. Egan
August 22, 1930
May 8, 2019
Gravesite Details
He is buried next to mom who is buried next to their daughter, Amy.
