THEODORE HEALY: SON OF A STOOGE

Ted Healy was the mastermind behind The Three Stooges. I recently wrote an article highlighting the last days of Ted Healy's sad life. Healy died on December 21, 1937 at the young age of 41. However, Healy's last days were not completely sad and bleak. Four days before he died, him and his wife had a boy - John Jacob Nash.

Because he grew up fatherless, Mr. Healy of Dunwoody devoted time to serving as a role-model for young folk. For years, he taught math at the DeKalb Regional Youth Detention Facilities. When he retired, the certified financial planner taught math in an area middle school and high school.

"It was important to him to demonstrate the power and influence that a positive male role model can have in a young person's life," said his daughter, Beth Healy Lee of Marietta. "He wanted to be that role model for kids who had been deprived of that influence."

On July 19, 2011, Theodore John Healy died from complications of liver failure at Rosemont at Stone Mountain, a nursing home. He was 73. A funeral and military burial with full honors was held Tuesday. A.S. Turner & Sons handled arrangements.

Mr. Healy was born in Hollywood, Calif., and named John Jacob Nash. He changed his name to Theodore John Healy to honor his late father, a Texan named Ernest Lee Nash. He adopted Ted Healy as a stage name.

The son joined the U.S. Naval Academy and met his wife of 47 years, Karen Anderson Healy, on a blind date while stationed in Athens. He served a tour of duty in Vietnam, then moved with his bride to the Atlanta area in the late 1960s. It's been home ever since. Mr. Healy worked at Rich's as a warehouse manager and an assistant manager at Richway to earn a master's degree from Georgia State University. He founded Financial Design Consultants, and ran the business nearly 20 years before retiring. He then taught math at Decatur's Chapel Hill Middle School and Fairburn's Creekside High. He retired in 2007.

Mr. Healy was told by his mother, the late Betty Hickman, that his father died of a heart attack, a story that was passed on to family. According to stoogeworld.com, though, the 42-year-old vaudeville performer, comedian and actor got into a fight with three men outside a club on the Sunset Strip. A medical examiner ruled he died from a brain concussion, the site states. His mother died at the age of 72 in 1986.

Through the years, Mr. Healy never tried to profit from The Three Stooges or his father's fame. He simply treasured mementos he had of them and other entertainers.

"Dad was never one to toot his own horn," his daughter said. "He loved Atlanta and created a wonderful life here."

Additional survivors include his wife, Karen Anderson Healy of Dunwoody; a son, T.J. Healy of Tucker; another daughter, Marcee Healy Deegan of New York; a brother, Daniel Marbut of California; two sisters, Patricia Healy and Mary Lou Fonseca, both of Los Angeles; and three grandchildren.

Ted Healy Sr died prematurely in 1937, and although Ted Jr died relatively young at the age of 73, he led a different life than his father did. He had a successful career, and he got to see his grandchildren being born - that is a great success in itself and much more success than his father ever had...