Edward "Ted" Adams, Jr.

Edward “Ted” Adams, Jr., a Taunton resident originally from Brockton, died on March 30 in Boston, with family beside him, listening to one of his all-time favorite musicians, Todd Rundgren, with The Honeymooners on TV. He was 64.

In August 1961, Ted's mother went into labor with him at a drive-in screening of The Guns of Navarone, a fittingly cinematic entrance for a man who would spend the next six decades quoting movies, blasting music, and making everyone in earshot laugh. He shared a birthday with Hulk Hogan, which he considered an honor, brother. At Brockton High School, where he graduated in 1979, he picked up a guitar that would shape his taste in everything, played in bands, and once saw The Ramones before the rest of the world had any idea they were punk-rock legends. At 23, he married Diana Fallon and became a father to Teddy in 1985 and Chelsea in 1991, a role that would define his life.

In 1992, Ted joined Jordan's Furniture, where he'd continue working for 33 years—selling sofas, working clearance, delivering grandfather clocks across New England, and cracking people up.

Ted was riotously funny, a wry goofball with a huge heart. He had the kind of timing you can't teach, deployed everywhere from holiday dinners to his final hospital room, where he kept his family laughing until the very end. He was a devoted son who regularly took his mother to lunch at Brockton’s Cape Cod Café (cheese pizza, burnt edges, every time). He was a lifelong scholar of The Three Stooges, The Simpsons, and South Park; a ‘70s-culture historian who visited the filming locations of The Friends of Eddie Coyle; and a man who, when he recently needed a cane, bought one that turned into a sword. He leaves behind a great many people who loved him, a robust Hot Wheels collection, an unbuilt 1497-piece Jaws LEGO set, and one of the highest honors a man can earn: Most Fun Dad Ever.

Ted is survived by: his mother Phyllis Jean Dodero; son and best friend Edward “Teddy” III; daughter Chelsea and fiancé Sean O’ Brien; sisters Cynthia Stork, Allyson Furlong, and Camille Dodero; nieces Noelle Dees and husband Kris, Ashley Crowley and husband Brendan, Jenna Furlong and fiancé Tom Quintanilla, Courtney Furlong and fiancé William Bertocchi; nephews Aaron Stork, Nathan Stork and fiancé Mandy Dagwan; great nieces Stella, Nora, Layla, and Kara; dear friend of 43 years, Chris Burbul and wife Cristina Hajosy; beloved cat, BB; and those frayed camo shorts Ted’s mother always wanted to burn.

Preceding Ted in death were his father Edward Adams and stepfather Francis Dodero; cats Sammy and Nicky. 

A visitation and memorial service will take place on Saturday, April 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Dahlborg-MacNevin Funeral Home in Lakeville, followed by a nearby celebration of life. In lieu of sending flowers, please donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Ted’s name. Those ads made him weepy.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Edward "Ted" Adams, Jr., please visit our floral store.