OBITUARY
June 26, 1947

RITES FOR JOHN L. TODD

Funeral services for John L. Todd, 60, who died Wednesday of last week in a Galveston hospital, were held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Idabel First Baptist church with Rev. Joe R. Baker, pastor, officiating.

A choir, composed of Mrs. Earl Keys, Mrs. Glenn Moore, Mrs. Joe Baker, Mrs. Eddie Fulmer, Mrs. Guy Old, Burl Mays, O.O. Westbrook, C.E. Pittman and Alvin Hopkins, sang "In the Sweet By and By," "Shall We Gather at the River", and "In the Garden". Mrs. C.A. Kimbrough was accompanist.

Burial was in Denison cemetery under direction of Wilson Funeral Home. A Masonic service was conducted by the Wright City Lodge, and members of the lodge served as pallbearers.

He is survived by his widow; two sons, C.L. and J.N. Todd, all of Newton, Tex.; his mother, Mrs. M.L. Todd, DeQueen, Ark.; one brother, Lonnie Todd, Eagletown; half-brother, Will Todd, Port Alford, Ore.; five sisters, Mrs. Addie Williams, Port Alford, and Mrs. Elsie Bunch, Mrs. Dave Williams, Mrs. Zona James and Mrs. Cleve Hendrix, all of DeQueen; and two grandchildren.

Todd was born April 17, 1887, in Sevier County, Ark., and he was married to the former Miss Delphia Mae Scroggins May 2, 1912, at Wright City. He was a member of the Wright City Baptist Church and a Charter Member of the Wright City Masonic Lodge #483.

He was employed by the Dierks Lumber Company for 31 years at Wright City, and he was employed with the Newton Lumber Company from inception to the time of his death.

Many friends from Wright City attended the services.

McCurtain Gazette - courtesy of Brandon O'Rear on Findagrave
**Special thanks go to Findagrave member Brandon O'Rear for giving of time and a kind heart to find this obituary for me. Until I received this Obit, I never knew whether my grandfather's funeral was held in Oklahoma where he lived most of his life, or Texas where he lived about 6 or 7 years and where he died.

BIO: by Karla Todd Sherer
~My Grandfather~

John is the son of Marksey Lafayette and Ardelia McCurdy Todd. One of only three boys in a family of 8 girls all connected below. John did a bit of pipeline work in the Idabel area early in his young adult life but then began his lifelong career in the sawmill. He worked for Choctaw Lumber Co., in Wright City OK, for many years before leaving OK for the small TX town of Patroon (now a ghost town). There he worked for a short time in a sawmill that was managed by Claude Williams for the Anthony Timbeland's Group. Shortly after, he moved to Newton, TX, where Claude asked him to help with building a new sawmill and where he would work first as a "Millwright" helping build that mill. Upon completion, and until his death, he held position of "Saw Filer" and "Planer Foreman" of this mill. Claude was Mgr. of Newton Lumber Co., Ltd, established in the early 1940's (according to public records and it ran until 1975.)

On 2 May 1912, John married Delphia May Scroggins in Valliant, McCurtain Co., Oklahoma. They became the parents of two sons, Conley Leon and John Neal "Rosy" Todd. These sons were both born and grew up in Wright City, OK. John worked for Choctaw Lumber Co. which later was called Dierk's Lumber Co. The home where he and his family lived held the town's telephone switching system and office. His wife, May, worked the switchboard and accepted the billing payments. At about age 18, May's sister, Anna Scroggins Lites, took over the switchboard.
Around 1941, May and John moved to Patroon, TX to work for Williams Lumber Co. Shortly after, they moved to Newton, TX, with Claude Williams to build and work at Newton Lumber Company.

At the time of his death, John had two grandchildren; a 7 year old grandson and a 3 day old granddaughter that he never saw. I am that granddaughter. He had a heart attack the day I was born and died 3 days later in a Galveston hospital. It has been a lifelong sadness to me that I did not know him. I've tried many years to find an obituary that would tell me if his funeral was in TX or OK. I'm very grateful to my fellow Findagrave member - Brandon O'Rear for this gift.

Rest peacefully papaw....I will meet you one day....