Theodore E. Cummings (December 25, 1907 – March 30, 1982) was an Austrian-born American diplomat. A non-career appointee, he served as the American ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Austria until his death on March 30, 1982.[1]
A longtime friend of Ronald Reagan, Cummings was considered a member of his Kitchen Cabinet.[2] He had known Reagan for a long time before he became president. Cummings had served in Reagan's governor administration as commissioner, California Commission on Judicial Qualification, California Hospital Commissioner and was a member of the Commission on Health Services Industry of the Cost of Living Council.
Cummings was a native of Austria. He was a resident of Beverly Hills, California, at the time of his death from cancer[3] at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was Chairman of Cedars-Sinai from 1954 until his appointment as Ambassador. Prior to that, he opened the first Food Giant supermarket, in 1944, in Long Beach and then went on to develop a string of stores called . He went on to build a string of stores Builders Emporiums. He sold his holdings in 1968 for $52.5 million to Vornado Inc., of Garfield, New Jersey. Cummings died in Los Angeles, California on March 30, 1982, at the age of 74.[2]
