tedder maintained a lively interest in the royal air force and attended many honorary functions related to the squadrons in which his father had served. he also followed in his father's steps in his deep reading about oliver cromwell, and had planned to write a book on cromwell. tedder was also interested in classical music and played the piano. near the end of his life he developed parkinson's disease (the same affliction from which his father died). he then developed alzheimer's disease, which forced him into retirement, and he was eventually placed in permanent nursing care until his death in 1994.