Letter to the Editor: Supervisor Jeff McKay on Jeff Todd

As we all have now heard, Jeff Todd, community leader, local business owner, philanthropist, civic volunteer, and most importantly friend to so many of us, passed away last week in a tragic car accident. This unfortunate accident has not yet sunk in and will never make sense. Personally, I am trying to respond in a way that would make Jeff Todd proud.

It came to me during his memorial service that we—the communities of Lee and Mt. Vernon—can respond with our hearts, our actions, and our love of our area. This is what Jeff would expect. We can carry on his legacy of giving his all to the community he loved. We can turn this tragedy into a call to action so that we can all strive to do a fraction of the things for our neighbors that Jeff did automatically. It will take nearly the whole community to accomplish that. 

Jeff's legacy is one of compassion, concern for his fellow neighbor, and a general attitude that he would help anyone—and everyone—who needed it. How simple and how beautiful and what an inspiration for all of us. Let us now in our own individual ways strive to respond and make Jeff proud.

I’m trying to imagine what the world would be like if it could be filled with Jeff Todds. In all the years that I’ve known Jeff, I don’t think I ever heard him say "No." Instead, "How can I help?" was classic Jeff.  I’ll always remember Jeff and his family serving the ice cream that they donated every year to our Springfield Community BridgeWalk—a small thing, perhaps, but it made a lot of adults and kids very happy. The Todd family has improved the spirit of the community and demonstrated that there really are some great people in the world.

Jeff’s life may have been short in years but it held several lifetimes’ worth of community service. It was a privilege to know him. May God bless the Todd family and may they know this community is here to support them.

Jeff McKay

Lee District Supervisor