Family Honors Memory of Longtime Sports Writer With Walk to End Alzheimer's

Whether it was UConn women’s basketball, high school football or the Traveler’s Championship, Ted Moynihan chronicled it all for years at The Record Journal.

“You can ask him who was his favorite player and he would say Maya Moore,” said Ted’s daughter Mary Underwood.

But after retirement, his health took a turn.

“Five years ago, our dad was diagnosed with a form of dementia, most likely a frontal temporal dementia,” said Underwood.

That left Moynihan non-verbal so he found other ways to communicate.

“Dad always used to tip his hat,” said Underwood. “Usually he tipped his hat hello and usually he tipped his hat when he was done with us.”

Moynihan passed away from the coronavirus on May 8. A few weeks later, two of his three children set up a walk to honor their father and raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Dad’s birthday was June 5 and he loved to walk so it’s a great way to honor him,” said Ted’s son Mark Moynihan. “I called Mary and we had an event up in an hour.”

“At the Alzheimer’s Association, we just want to make sure that they know that we’re here for them,” said Alzheimer’s Association Director of Communications for the Connecticut chapter Kristen Cusato. “We’re here for caregivers and we’re here for those in the facility.”

“One of the reasons we wanted to walk and we wanted to represent this is people always think dementia and they think Alzheimer’s and there’s so many different forms,” added Underwood. “Mark probably got the question as much as I did, did he know who you are? Always. He knew who we were to the end.”

“Throughout all this, he knew what was going on and I believe he held on to his memories,” added Mark.

Others battling dementia are more at risk now then ever before with the threat of the coronavirus so finding new treatments and a cure is vital.

“With their help and the help of other folks, we can help care for the 80,000 people in Connecticut who are living with Alzheimer’s or the 178,000 caregivers because we need to find new treatments and a cure,” said Cusato.