Benjamin TODD

1949 - 2019

TODD, Benjamin William His family knew better than to try and solve the mystery of Benjamin Todd. How does one man do so many things so fully, marshaling both the tenacity of a former Marine and the exuberance of a child, with endless reservoirs of energy to fulfill an eclectic yet full approach to life They just enjoyed him, knowing their satisfaction was the ultimate end of much of what he did, and his highest aim. Mr. Todd, who excelled at an astonishing number of avocations, especially those of involved family man and devoted friend, died Sept. 23, 2019. He was 70. What mattered to him was what he could do for himself and others, whether through his ever expanding hobbies, checking on a sick friend or fixing a sink. He didn't just fantasize about having a farm, he built one in rustic Brooksville, populating it with a horse named Apache and a couple of ponies, goats, pigs and chickens. In the middle of the night, he once worked a Vaseline-coated arm inside a cow, the other hand holding the phone as a veterinarian helped him deliver a breeched calf. A hobby building radio-controlled cars with his son grew into racing real ones at Sunshine Speedway. He started with his beloved black Thunderbird. He pushed the envelope further, to dragsters that could cover a quarter-mile in half-dozen seconds; then to building and selling racecar engines. He didn't just take up photography, he embraced it for more than 40 years, becoming an award-winning photographer for the Tampa Bay Rowdies; for a time, he ran a studio out of former cigar factory on Armenia Avenue, all while working full-time and supporting a family. Benjamin William Todd was born April 27, 1949, in Columbia, S.C., the second of four siblings raised mostly by a single mother who had emigrated from Germany. Young Benjamin was legally blind, seeing only vague shapes until age 5, when multiple surgeries restored his eyesight. He joined the Marine Corps after high school during the Vietnam era, and was stationed in San Diego. After the military, he became a lineman for General Telephone, climbing poles and installing telephones. Telephone technology was making quantum leaps forward in the 1970s. Mr. Todd took every class GTE offered on computers and digital switches. He caught on so well, the company made him a point person in leading the transition one community at a time, both around the country and into Mexico. He maintained a focus throughout his adult life on enriching children, either his own or those displaced as he had once been. He took the kids monthly to Walt Disney World, where he held an annual pass. He never tired of the Hall of Presidents, arriving early to watch the a cappella Voices of Liberty in colonial dress singing America the Beautiful in honeyed tones. Each Christmas season he made a special point of catching the Voices in their Candlelight Processional at Epcot. He kept his eye out for worthy souvenirs to display in the Disney room at home. Mr. Todd retired 15 years ago from Verizon, as a manager of information technology. He took up drone photography after first getting a professional license from the Federal Aviation Administration. He was a longtime board member of the Tampa Bay Area Professional Photographers Association (TAPPA), serving as its president in 2013 and 2016. His health took an unexpected turn a year following complications from knee replacement surgery. Confined to a wheelchair, he worried about not being able to help a neighbor anymore who had late-stage cancer. His wife Jan took over those duties. Family members and the chaplain joined hands and prayed for Mr. Todd, their circle including his Jan and two-ex-wives, his children, his sisters and his beloved dog Sparky who refused to leave his side in hospice. His daughter Michelle was by his hospice bed Sept. 23 and spoke to the father who had drunk so deeply of life, savoring its joys and extending his last full measure of devotion. She told him she loved him and kissed his lips. The breath he drew at that moment would be his last. Mr. Todd is survived by his wife, Jan (née Jennings); son, Scott Todd and his wife, Kristine; and daughter, Michelle Todd Schorsch and her husband, Peter; grandchildren Hope, Cole and Ella Joyce; sisters Debbie Hodges and her husband, Johnny, and Barbara Metz and her husband, Jim; and brother, Jimmie Todd and his wife, Bobbie. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 4545 Chancellor St. NE, St. Petersburg.