Top of the Morning, May 16, 2023
May 16—Ted Wells officially retired Monday after 27 years as the Stephens Family YMCA's chief financial officer. Not that he is done working.
"I jokingly tell people I'm going to go find another job," the longtime Cubs and Bears fan said. "I'll find something to do. If I don't have to, I'm not going to sit home."
Wells' career was celebrated Monday with a large sign out front of the Stephens Family Y, a brunch with the staff and cake and ice cream with Y members.
Wells came to the Y after a long business career. He initially worked in operations at Jewel Food Stores in Chicago for more than two decades. He later owned IGA stores in Catlin, Georgetown and Chrisman before owning a Fantastic Sams franchise in Champaign.
When Wells started at the Y, it was at its former location on Church Street. The current location is a sparkling building on Fields South Drive.
"Pleased to see we were able to take our humble beginnings and come into something that's really nice," he said.
Wells, who turns 88 next month, said he worked to such a late age because he promised his late wife, Mary, he would take care of her. The couple was married 67 years before she passed away last year.
Wells lives in Champaign with son Ronald. Another son, Scott, lives across the street. Daughter Rhonda is in Florida.
A personal highlight for Wells was learning how to fly at age 30. At 32, he took his family on a twin-engine plane for a flight to Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, into Europe as far as Rome and back.
Born in Macomb, Wells grew up in Chicago. He is a DePaul University graduate and earned his master's at Michigan State University.
