Albert “Ted” Twesme
Dr. Albert “Ted” Twesme passed away, surrounded by family, December 5, 2025. Ted was born July 13, 1948, in La Crosse, to Judge Albert “Bud” and Dorothy Twesme and was raised in Galesville. Ted was active in Boy Scouts, earning the Eagle Scout award before graduating from Gale-Ettrick High School in 1966. He contributed to his school and community in which he participated in student council and athletics. Ted attended UW-Whitewater then transferred to UW-Madison. He graduated from Dental School in 1973, from Marquette University. During his time at Marquette, he was a member of Delta Sigma Delta fraternity. While in Milwaukee, he married his wife of 54 years, Mary Alice Stellflue Twesme, in 1971. After graduating Dental School, he spent two years of active duty serving in the U.S. Navy at 29 Palms, CA. He continued his Navy career as a reservist for over 33 years, achieving the rank of Captain (O-6). After leaving 29 Palms, he attended the University of Oklahoma where he completed his Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) residency.
Ted and Mary moved their family to Las Vegas, NV in 1979, where he opened his private practice. Ted was one of a handful of Oral Surgeons in Las Vegas at that time. He soon successfully became Board Certified after navigating rigorous clinical, academic, and oral vetting processes. He immediately began to contribute to the community by taking trauma calls at local hospitals and directly from patients, ultimately treating thousands and thousands at the highest level of the professionalism, regardless of their ability to pay. Ted provided these services during the entire time he was practicing.
He was active in professional dentistry, becoming the President of the Southern Nevada Dental Society, the Nevada Dental Association (NDA), and the Nevada State Society of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons. In the regulatory and legal sphere, he was the President of the Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners and a Member of the American Board of Dental Examiners. His regulatory goal was to effect reasonable and legitimate licensure of dentists nationwide. In his position of power and authority, he always did the right things in kind ways. Within the American Dental Association (ADA), he also rose to national prominence. The ADA Annual Meeting regularly came to Las Vegas and in 1995 Ted was the Chairman of the Local Arrangements Committee, successfully presiding over the largest ADA Annual Meeting in history. Within the community, Ted was a President of the American Heart Association of Southern Nevada, an American Cancer Society Screener, Chairman of the United Way Dental Division, a Member of the Masons, and the Community Lutheran Church. Ted was active in athletics as a youth coach and at UNLV with the Board of Directors of the Football Foundation. He also helped UNLV Sports Medicine clinically, including during UNLV’s National Championship Basketball Season of 1990, working from the Rebel’s bench. Ted remained a steadfast Rebel sports fan for the remainder of his life which sometimes conflicted with his deep love of the Wisconsin Badgers. He also was a lifelong Green Bay Packers supporter and stockholder.
Ted’s career and life were bookended by activity in Scouting America. After becoming one of 2% of all Scouts to earn the Eagle Scout rank as a youth in Wisconsin, he earned his Faith’s Religious Scouting Award. Shortly before he became ill, he was nominated for the rare National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, based on lifetime achievements after becoming an Eagle. He was unanimously approved by the Las Vegas Area Council and will receive the award posthumously.
The Nevada Dental Association Journal will be publishing a more complete history of his most remarkable life in 2026. Ted exemplified the very best in all of us. He had many great joys in life, but one constant was his love of spending time in Coronado with family and friends.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Twesme, and four children: Christine (Andy) Sorenson, Milwaukee, WI; Lee (Carrie) Twesme, Peoria, AZ; Joe (Patricia Hottowe) Twesme, Ridgecrest, CA; Erika (Grant Stanley) Twesme, Las Vegas, NV; sister-in-law, Mary (John) Wilson, Las Vegas, NV; brother, Tim (Lisa) Twesme, Surprise, AZ; and sister, Katy (Gary) Pusateri, Eagle River, WI. He was blessed with seven grandchildren.
He was proceeded in death by his father-in-law, Joe Stellflue; mother-in-law, Alice Stellflue; parents; and brother, Tom Twesme.
Services will be held Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., at Community Lutheran Church, 3720 E. Tropicana Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89121.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Wisconsin at a later date.
Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the American Cancer Society.
