Theodore 'Ted' R. Branthover
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2009
Ted Branthover, 86, a Geico executive for 35 years, died Feb. 15 of leukemia at his home in Rockville.
Mr. Branthover worked for Geico Insurance from 1950 until his retirement in 1985. He retired as vice president of claims
for Equitable General Insurance Co., a Geico subsidiary based in Fort Worth. For a short time before his retirement, he
commuted to Fort Worth.
Theodore Ross Branthover was born in Cambridge, Mass., and lived in Wakefield, Mass., until his family moved to
Greensburg, Pa., in 1929 and then to the District in 1936. He graduated from Western High School in 1940.
Immediately after his graduation, he worked at Garfinkel's department store and then for the Library of Congress, where
he nurtured his lifelong love of reading. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces, serving as a member of
the Signal Corps. He served in Naples, Italy; Lyon, France; and Kaiserslautern, Germany. At the time of Germany's
surrender to the Allied forces, he was stationed in Marseilles, France, and was scheduled for deployment to Burma, but
Japan surrendered before he was shipped out.
After the war, he enrolled at American University under the G.I. Bill and received his undergraduate degree in 1947. He
received his law degree from Catholic University in 1951.
Mr. Branthover was a member of Rockville Presbyterian Church for more than 50 years. He also was a member of the
Optimist Club of Rockville, where he served as co-president along with his wife, Donna Metcalf Branthover. An avid
golfer, he belonged to Lakewood Country Club and later Montgomery Village Golf Club. For many years, he and his wife
chaired the charity golf tournament for Children's Hospital. He also was an active supporter of the Brave Dave charity
golf tournament for multiple sclerosis research. He loved coaching his sons' baseball teams.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, of Rockville; six children, Lynne Komai of Alexandria, Ted Branthover of Chevy
Chase, Ned Branthover of New York, Jean Benham of Charlotte, N.C., Tom Branthover of Kensington and Robert
Branthover of Berkeley Heights, N.J.; a sister; and 15 grandchildren.
-- Joe Holley