January 6, 1925 - January 21, 2023

Edward (Ted) Pratt, 98, died peacefully on January 21, 2023, at his home in Westport, CT, where he had lived for 70 years.

Ted was born in New York City in 1925, and grew up in Bronxville, NY. He attended high school at Taft Preparatory School in Waterbury, CT, Class of ‘43, where he made life-long friends. During World War II he left Yale to serve in the Navy from 1943-1946 in the Pacific. After the war, he returned to Yale University and graduated with a major in European history in 1948. In 1950 he married Joan Hadden and moved to Westport in 1952, where they spent many happy years raising their four children and bonding with the Westport community, with their neighbors, and especially with their dear friends on Newtown Turnpike – an exceptional group.

After a career in the textile industry with Monsanto and George C. Moore and Co., Ted formed his own company in 1973, selling fine imported giftware from Europe. He retired in 2019 after 46 years.

He was a reader of biographical, non-fiction, and historical books; he loved a good party, and a glass or two of white wine every evening, reading daily newspapers, doing crossword puzzles and lively political conversations. He was extremely proud of his New Zealand heritage, loved traveling abroad and the New York Yankees. He was an avid tennis player and spent many happy hours tending to his garden and sitting with his wife and family at Compo Beach.

He was pre-deceased in 1994 by his wife, Joan Hadden Pratt. He is survived by his four children: Wendy Shuart (Tom) of Redondo Beach, CA; Andrew Pratt (Maura) of Stamford, CT; Hillary Pompey (Leonard) of Newburyport, MA; and Laura Pratt of Westport; four grandchildren – Megan Sargent, Tracy Pompey, Ryan Pratt, and Jason Pratt; and two great grandchildren—Kingston Sargent and Emmet Pratt; and his friend and companion Sally Waugh of Southport, CT.

Please consider a contribution to Taft Preparatory School Class of 1943 in his name. A private service will be held at a future date.