A Tribute to Ted Mars

The American Adoptions family suffered a great loss March 31 when Ted Mars, an American Adoptions’ Board member, passed away unexpectedly.

Ted was married to Susan Mars and was father to Scott Mars, both co-founders of American Adoptions. He and Susan were married for 47 years. They adopted Scott as a newborn after a long journey of infertility. Their experience with infertility and adoption is what led Susan and Scott to begin American Adoptions in the basement of their home. Today, American Adoptions is one of the largest domestic adoption agencies in the U.S. Ted volunteered countless hours at the agency and is one of the key reasons why American Adoptions is the organization that it is today.

However, to anyone who knew Ted, his greatest joy in life was his family. Not only was he an excellent father to Scott, but he also spent the majority of his later years with his three grandchildren: Dentan, Dylan and Ava.

In addition to his own immediate family, Ted was like a father to all who knew him, including everyone at American Adoptions. He was always the first to volunteer to help a neighbor or friend and truly enjoyed helping anyone in need. His presence is already greatly missed, and the American Adoptions family will never forget his kind-heartedness, cheery voice or graciousness.

View a video tribute to Ted Mars below:

You can read Ted’s obituary here: http://www.penwellgabelolathe.com/obituary.aspx?src=choice&obitid=66455&name=TedMars&city=Olathe&st=KS

Becoming a Father is Creation’s Greatest Gift by Ted Mars

My wife and I were not blessed with the ability to bear children. We were pregnant 8 times, and each time there was a problem, causing my wife to lose the baby. I promised myself that if I was ever allowed to become a father, I would do the very best I could do as a parent. We wondered if God thought we were not fit to become parents. Finally, He allowed us to become parents through adoption. An adopted child is truly a chosen child. If a couple can bear children, they do not have a choice on the child they receive. Adoption gives you choices, and I believe God places the right child with the proper family. Our son became one of the favored children in our respective families, and there was absolutely no difference because he was adopted.

The day the adoption agency placed my son in my arms, I became a father, a king and the proudest man on earth. I could not believe God was entrusting us with his finest creation, a child. I have no way to say what it is like to become a natural father, but I can tell you there is no way it could be any better than adopting a child. I could not love a natural child any more, or maybe even as much as my adopted son.

It was very scary at first as newborn babies do not come with instructions, but what a joy. They demand a lot of time, and the time they demand is the best time a parent can spend. It earns you more dividends than any other investment you can make. A parent has a short time to invest this attention to their child, and there is no way to measure this investment until the baby is an adult. I feel we did a decent job with my son and adoption. Our son, Scott Mars, became the founder and Executive Director of American Adoptions. Then he blessed my wife and I with beautiful grandchildren, what a ride…

I always thought he would take over my business, but when he was in college, he told me he felt he had to pay back adoption and help other children find a good life. When I retired, I started helping and spending time with my son at his adoption agency.

A parent’s work is never done!

– Ted Mars