Theodora L. Glover (Teddi), 90, of New Haven, passed away Saturday, November 3, 2018. She was born in Newark, NJ on April 27, 1928, the youngest of eleven children to the late Ira and Rose Bartow James. She retired from the City of New Haven Human Services Department.
Theodora leaves to cherish her memory, her husband of 70 years, Arthur A. Glover Jr.; son, Jerome Glover; daughters, Jacqueline Glover and Janita (Troy) Frost; Grandchildren, Jason (Kay) and David Miller, Lanita Glover, Devon Frasier, Troy C., Terrez, Tylaan and Troi Frost; seven great-grand children and a host of relatives and friends. Her beloved first-born son, Arthur A. Glover III, her littlest angels, granddaughter Tanasia Frost and great-grand son Terrell Stevenson preceded her in death.
After the sudden and tragic death of her first child, Arthur, Teddi felt it was her mission in life to help parents and other children who needed a home away from home. She took care of children in her home for two years and realized there was a great need for daycare for working parents. In 1961 she moved her home daycare into St. Andrews Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall, which started with twenty-four children expanding to sixty children. The Newhallville Child Development Center was then founded becoming the first daycare center for children in New Haven.
Teddi along with others advocated for more daycare centers to open in other communities and there are now daycare programs across the city. She credited Dr. Reginald Mayo former superintendent of New Haven Schools with allowing her daycare center to move into the Martin Luther King School, becoming the first infant toddler program to be housed in a public school building.
Teddi earned an associate degree in Early Childhood Education, Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and a four-year certificate in Theological Education for Ministry. She was actively involved in her community and participated in political, religious, and social activities to help meet the needs of the Newhallville Community. She started her political involvement in 1949 with Mayoral Campaign for Richard Lee. She later became one of the founders of the Black Women’s Caucus of New Haven and was Alderwoman for Newhallville District during the 1980s. She served as a member of the National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women — New Haven Chapter, Union of Black Episcopalians, African American Women’s Agenda, Sojourner Network Democratic Women, and Greater New Haven Inner City Daycare Council – founding member.
A celebration of her life will take place Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, at 11:00 AM at Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church, 782 Orchard St, New Haven, CT 06511. Friends may call Wednesday at the church from 10:00 – 11:00 AM. Interment will be at Hamden Plains Cemetery, Hamden. Services by Howard K. Hill Funeral Services, 1287 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06511. To leave a message of comfort for the Glover family, please visit, www.hkhfuneralservices.com
