Ted I. Sorensen, businessman, sports enthusiast, gourmand, and former mayor of Menlo Park, died February 14, after a lengthy illness. He was 76 years old.

Born in Oakland, Mr. Sorensen spent his youth there and in Pt. Arena.

The son of George Sorensen and Helen Halliday, he attended Oakland High School, where he excelled in football and baseball and was active in student government. After attending Napa Valley College, Mr. Sorensen graduated with a bachelor's degree in business from the University of New Mexico.

His plans to play professional football with the San Francisco 49ers were interrupted when he was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

After his military service, Mr. Sorensen joined his family's horticultural business in Oakland. In the 1960s he spent time living and working in the Pacific Rim, predominantly in Japan and Hawaii.

Returning to the mainland in the 1970s, he became an executive in the transportation industry, including serving as president of West Coast Leaseway Transportation, a major national trucking company.

A long-time resident of Menlo Park, Mr. Sorensen was elected to the City Council and served from 1984 to 1992, including two years as mayor. During his tenure as a council member, he worked on such important projects as the development of St. Patrick's Seminary, San Francisquito Creek cleanup, and the establishment of the Belle Haven Senior Center.

He also took part in the mischievous 1987 April Fool's Day joke that pretended to announce the merging of the cities of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

He was president of the Peninsula Division of the League of California Cities from 1988 to 1989.

Mr. Sorensen's love of football led him to serve as athletic manager for the annual Shriner East-West College All-Star Football games at Stanford. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge F&AM of California for 50 years. His interests included gardening, cooking and music, especially the Big Band sound and jazz. He also belonged to several train associations, including the "2472," which helped to restore a historic locomotive.

Surviving are his wife Ester Bugna, a native of Menlo Park, his sister Charlotte Sharp, of San Leandro, and five nieces and nephews.

No services are planned. Memorials in his name may be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817.