James Meyer Todd

James Meyer Todd (“Jim”) was born on July 23, 1933 in Greenville, Tennessee and lived throughout the South for much of his childhood before settling with his family in Sulfur, Louisiana.  Having lost his mother at a young age, Jim’s father traveled often to find work, and he and his older brother and younger sister accompanied their father when they could or stayed with aunts or other friends and relatives when they couldn’t.  

Jim attended Louisiana State University and then the University of Wyoming for graduate school, and he joined the U.S. Air Force and became an Air Force engineer after receiving his degree. He transferred to Denver and, after being honorably discharged from service, went to work for Martin Marietta and lived with friends in an apartment near Sloan’s Lake. He married in 1968, had two children, and moved to Littleton for the duration of his life. He was divorced and remarried in 1979, gaining a son by marriage even though he eventually divorced again and remained unmarried for the rest of his life.

Always looking for new opportunities and adventures, Jim struck out on his own and tried new things, in his career and in life.  He traveled around the country with friends, attempted several interesting business ventures, got his pilot’s license, became an avid skier and joined one of the earliest ski patrols in Vail, started a real estate investment and management company, and made new, lifelong friends all along the way. Always up for a challenge even later in life, he took up bike touring and rode races throughout Colorado and around the country with his team “Generation Gap” (made up of cyclists of all ages) when he was about 60 years old, ran in various charity races including the Bolder Boulder and Denver Turkey Trot when he could talk his son into joining him, learned to snowboard “like those obnoxious kids” at the age of 65, and finally began traveling to see the world, touring nearly every continent and scores of countries over the last 20 or so years of his life. 

Jim was preceded in death by his mother Mary Elma Meyer and his father Paul Duncan Todd, along with his older brother Paul Jr., who died tragically in 1960.  He will be sorely missed by his children Paul James Todd and Kelly Ann Todd, along with Jeffrey Graham Armstrong, his son by his second marriage, and his sister Joann Parker and her family, not to mention his granddogs Django and Guga. 

Jim touched countless lives over the years with his work ethic, adventurous spirit, calming presence, optimism, wit, and charm, all of whom will miss him as well. Jim died peacefully due to complications from heart failure and dementia on September 21, 2019 at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree with his family nearby. He left this world with his children pressed against him, just like they did when they were little and he would pick them up from their beds before dawn and carry them, still sleeping, to the old family van so they could awake to a surprise sunrise breakfast in Daniel’s Park. 

A celebration of Jim’s life will be held at Drinkwine Family Chapel in Littleton on Oct. 19, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. with a reception for family and friends to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jim’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association of America at https://alzfdn.org or to Best Friends Animal Society at www.bestfriends.org.

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