Edward Gray Sexton passed away May 5, 2014. Edward “Ted” Sexton fought renal cell cancer 10 months after first diagnosis. Ted Sexton was born in Chicago, Illinois May 3rd, 1954.
At the age of 14, Ted moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts where he was raised by his Uncle Tom Sexton. It was here that Ted graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1977.
After graduation, he started his career in the restaurant industry. He held the position of training specialist and eventually became General Manager of several corporate restaurants. This took him all over the U.S. Ted had a dream. His dream was to one day open his own restaurant. Little did he know he would far exceed his dream. After opening one of the largest chain restaurants in Colorado Springs, Ted met his now long-time friend, Franco Pisani. The two had similar dreams, and set off as Entrepreneurs to create their own multi-award winning Paravicini’s Italian Bistro in April of 2003.
Ted was a self-made man who overcame much adversity in life. This helped him grow and become an inspiration to others. He was a great mentor to anyone he came across.
Ted married his wife, Tricia in 2002, and they would have celebrated 12 years of marriage on June 3, 2014. He leaves behind his devoted wife ,Tricia Sexton; his two step-sons, Michael and Ross Caldwell; his Aunt Jane Kane; and Uncle Tom Sexton; his 2 brothers, Bill Sexton and Mike Sexton; his sister Debbie Williams. He also leaves behind his best friend, Franco and wife, Lynn along with extended family to include all of his co-workers at Paravicini’s, plus all of the patrons who have made his dream come true.
I am very sorry to hear this news. Ted Sexton was a stalwart football player and
a hell of a lot of fun to know during those two years at Williston. I offer my sincere
condolences to his family and friends. We had some difficult football games in
1971 (we won most of them), and Sexton was always someone I (and I suspect many of us)
glanced at in huddles to steady the nerves and stay focused. He was never rattled! And in theater and around campus, he was always a guy people liked to see, liked to talk to, liked to hang out with. He was very funny, in his low-key way. I am smiling now to remember him.
We were in Doc Steven’s “American Humor” class together, in our Senior year, as I recall.
Williston being Williston, we were always tired and/or hungry, and in that particular class, which was in the morning, in the old Schoolhouse building, Ted was exhausted, like the rest of us. But unlike us, he didn’t pretend to be awake, taking notes: he folded his arms on his desk, put his head down, and went sound asleep. Doc Stevens, to his everlasting credit, and while telling us stories about Mark Twain, let him sleep. I am not surprised
to learn that Ted had good career and a devoted wife and family. He was a good man.
Ted was a great teammate. Loved being in the huddle with him as we drove down the field for a touchdown. It is always sad to lose someone we love from our family and from our youth. Forever Young! RIP Ted.
I had Ted for a roommate for three years, 70,71, 72, and I had so much fun and still have a lot of memories of him. We kept in touch every year and he, I and our wives were blessed to attend the 40 th reunion of the 1972 class, in 2012. He was a really good friend and I was going to go out and see him in August, but I was too late. He was a self-made man; and was able to overcome some
serious problems I and others shared with him. I loved him and will really miss him. He always called me “Blacks” We sang ” I Walk the Line” and a talking- blues Woody Guthrie style song called “The Greaseman” re:” the character that delivered Pizza from “Emily”s our senior year @ Ford Hall with Gauleiter Dick Gregory was in charge of malingerers. I could write a book about the stuff Ted and I did. I talked to him a lot the months before he died and he thought he was going to make it through…. Our loss, Blacks