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John D. Todd ’36

A picture of John Todd

John Duncan Todd ’36, July 10, 2004, in Roseburg, Oregon. John received a bachelor’s degree from Reed in physics. He went to work for Youngs Bay Lumber Company in Warrenton, Oregon, where he met Lucy I. Horton. They married in 1939, and had five children. For one year he had a teaching fellowship in physics at Oregon State College (University), but lacking an affinity for the academic world, he returned to the lumber business, working in the company office. In 1940, he pursued an opportunity to build houses in Astoria, and from that his business, Todd Building, was initiated. He moved the business to Roseburg in 1943, and assisted it in becoming one of the largest construction firms in the Pacific Northwest. (Todd Construction relocated to Tualatin in 1987.) Todd's community associations included the Roseburg Rotary Club, the Oregon Trail Council for Boy Scouts of America, the Chamber of Commerce, and the First United Methodist Church. He served on the Roseburg economic development committee, and was chosen Roseburg’s first citizen in 1964. John's interest included golf, bowling, and flying. Survivors include his wife, his son and daughters, 16 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, a brother and sister. His sister, Dorothy Todd ’30, predeceased him.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2004