He called me “Sir Richard”. Mike’s tone was affectionate. He had a wonderful, open face, heavy rimmed glasses and broad, beaming smile.
Mike was one of the ‘Old Breconians’, a regular team in a pub quiz where I read questions, often badly. Whenever pronunciation was butchered, Mike could be relied upon to put me right. The lesson was lightened by humour. Asked how he knew how a particular word was meant to be said he looked bemused for a second then referenced basic literacy. If you could read, he implied, you could speak. Just apply yourself, son.
Mike Todd applied himself. In a life of manifold challenges he knew his share of tragedy. Blighted by disease, robbed of those he loved, he got on with things. A practical man, of physical achievement, he was also an artist, a deep thinker and a pater familias. Nothing but warmth radiated from him.ADVERTISING
Michael Todd was born 28 September, 1951 in Dunedin, the second of five children of Jerry and Betty Todd. “From my earliest years”, he wrote once, “I had an insatiable desire to see, experience and savour what the world has to offer”. The inclination was fostered by a father who “went from occupation to occupation every two years”, necessitating near constant relocation. The Todds lived variously in Hawke’s Bay, Whangārei and Murapara.
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Mike was a “fiercely independent” youth who dreamed of “running away to sea”. At 16 he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy. Over the next eight years he saw the Pacific and the Far East, if from the vantage of a boiler room.
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In 1973, a marine engineer on the frigate HMSNZ Lachlan, Mike took part in a special intelligence gathering mission off Rarotonga, eavesdropping on French radio communications, playing a part in wider surveillance of Gallic nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll.
Mike claimed that he left the Navy when refused the privilege of growing longer hair. He took a job in Hawke’s Bay with a company that made blast freezers. His first child, Stephanie, was born in 1980. Working in the horticultural industry, he and second wife Rachel purchased their own orchard. When the marriage ended Mike moved to Waihī Beach to develop a kiwifruit orchard.
In 1982 Mike discovered a lump in his neck. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, he spent six months in Waikato Hospital. The radiation treatment eradicated the cancer but also damaged his spinal column. He lost mobility, becoming reliant initially on walking sticks, then crutches and eventually leg braces.
With orchard work no longer an option, Mike took up a position at Candid Camera, a photography business in Hamilton’s King’s Arcade. In January of 1983, on a blind date, he met Jan Gilby, a public health nurse.
Mike worked for a time as a real estate agent, selling sections. He found a niche as an employment broker, working with the intellectually or emotionally challenged, his patience and sense of empathy compensating for any lack of qualification.
Mike’s and Jan’s first child, Ben, was born in 1985. When Ben was three months old the family shifted to Mystery Creek. Mike worked as the curator of the Clydesdale Museum, a prime Hamilton tourist attraction.
In 1989, Mike’s and Jan’s daughter Samantha died of cot death. Mike became president of the Cot Death Society and he and Jan trained as first responders, comforting parents.
In 1991 Mike and Jan set up a hydroponic garden at Te Kōwhai, with crops of tomatoes and chillies and Asian vegetables. It was hard work for a man on crutches. He would rise at 5am to fire coal boilers and crawl on his knees to do the planting. Simultaneously, he established a landscaping and property maintenance business.
After selling the market garden in 1997, Mike’s prime professional focus involved maintenance work for the Perry Group in Horotiu. He and Jan became an active part of the community, with Mike serving on the Board of Trustees at Horotiu School.
Mike again caught the travel bug in 2003 with a trip to Spain. He and Jan subsequently visited South Africa, Vietnam, Cambodia, Croatia and parts of South America, including the Galapagos Islands. Mike would bring his camera, producing self-published books, full of professional quality photographs. The volume devoted to the Galapagos, subtitled ‘Of Course I Could Do It’ is expressly themed, encouraging those with mobility issues to explore the world.
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In 2009, Mike’s and Jan’s son Ben was killed in a motorcycle crash in Croatia. In a moving interview with the Waikato Times, Mike shared his grief, stating Ben – who had very much inherited his father’s wanderlust – was his “best friend”.
Suffering from Demyelinating Neuropathy, Mike’s health slowly declined. He endured months of autoimmune treatment in an attempt to suppress the condition’s advancement and eventually lost feeling in his lower legs. Three weeks ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Mike was many things to many people. A loving partner, father and fearless provider for his family. A sailor, an engineer, a designer and a gardener. A photographer, a poet and a potter. A lover of dogs and a connoisseur of wine. He did Outward Bound on crutches at the age of 62. He crawled on planks over shark-infested waters and rode hot air balloons. Days before he died, he toiled in the garden, building new structures until the end.
Michael Todd died on November 2, 2021. He is survived by his partner Jan, children Stephanie, Jess and Tom and granddaughter Anika.This Waikato story didn’t write itself.Make a contributionhttps://dashboard.presspatron.com/websites/153/custom_button
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The post Obituary: Michael Todd, 1951 – 2021 – At 16 he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy. Over the next eight years he saw the Pacific and the Far East, if from the vantage of a boiler room. appeared first on JCs Royal New Zealand Navy .
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