Star Athlete, Middletown Sports Hall of Famer Ted Isaacson Dies at 70

Star running back and Middletown Sports Hall of Famer Ted Isaacson Jr., a 1963 alumnus of Middletown High School, died Jan. 17 one day after his 70th birthday.

For years, he worked as a heavy equipment operator and is a retired member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478, according to his obituary on Legacy.

Isaacson began his football career in the midget programs of Middlefield and Rockfall and then continued at MHS. In his senior year MHS went 7-1 and legendary coach Waino Fillback called that team one of his best and favorite teams.

Isaacson was the featured running back — along with Paul LaBella — and that year he led the team in rushing with 927 yards, helping to lead MHS to the Central Valley Conference championship, the city championship with a 40-0 win over Woodrow Wilson, and a Class B Merit Award. The team's only loss was 18-14 to undefeated Amity of Woodbridge.

In the game against Wilson, played before 5,200 at Wesleyan's Andrus Field, Isaacson had three touchdowns and a two-point conversion He ran for 205 yards that day. He was awarded the Johnson-Miller trophy as the game's Most Valuable Player. He was named to the New Haven Register's All-State team as a running back.

He began his baseball career playing for the Rockfall Tigers in Middletown's Ahern-Whalen Intermediate League. At MHS he hit .312 his senior year as Middletown advanced to the semi-final round of the state tournament with a 14-5 record. The baseball team's record for Isaacson's career was 38-17 and the football team's record was 19-6-2. 

Isaacson was due to be inducted into the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2014 on Jan. 30 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell.  

Private burial services will be held in Florida. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made on his behalf to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

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