Bill was born Ernest Todd on 19 May 1932 in Felling, near Newcastle, at his Grandma’s house, as his older sister Jean had been. He grew up in Heworth, part of Gateshead and was a lifelong Newcastle fan, a tradition now carried on by his Grandson Daniel and his Great Grandson Freddie! He was confirmed in the Church of England and was in the local Anglican Church Choir as a child, despite always claiming later to be tone deaf!
He attended Heworth Primary School where his Mother was told that he was aggravatingly bright by one of his teachers, as he often knew more than she did!! On passing the 11 plus he attended Jarrow Grammar school where he played football for the school team.
Having passed his Higher Schools Certificate, in 1950 he was then called up for National Service. His basic training took place at Catterick and he served in the Royal Signals as a radio operator. On arrival by troop ship in Singapore, he and a fellow soldier volunteered for what they thought would be an easy posting in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it turned out that the unit for which they had volunteered was being posted to Korea! So, he became a veteran of the Korean war. He discovered later in life, that his hearing had been damaged by the noise from the guns.
He passed the entrance exam for the London School of Economics whilst still in the Far East and gained an Upper Second Batchelor of Science Degree in Economics graduating in 1955. He studied for a further year there in order to gain his diploma in Personnel Management becoming a Member of the Institute for Personnel Management in 1956. He made many good friends at LSE, some of whom he was still in touch with all these years later. It was also there that he became known as Bill, because his fellow students decided he didn’t look like an Ernest!!
Bill chose to stay in London after leaving LSE and lived in West Hampstead. In 1956 he started his working life with the building firm Holland, Hannan & Cubitts and it was during his time there that he met Wendy. They met early in 1961 on a blind date arranged by mutual friends who told him, he really should meet Wendy as she was only five and a half inches tall! He couldn’t resist meeting this very small woman. (She was actually five feet and half an inch tall, not tall but not as small as described!) They married on 25th August 1962 and had over 58 years of a very happily married life together.
They started married life in Brentford but in 1964 moved to Hayes, near Bromley, Kent, where they settled. Bill continued to work, mainly in the construction industry, as a Personnel Manager. He did try life a few times outside this industry, working with the Union Castle shipping line, a Personnel Consultancy and a Market Research company but he was most at home in the building industry, so returned where, amongst others, such companies as Costain, Tarmac, and Rush and Tompkins, (where he was Group Personnel Manager) and W.S. Atkins all benefitted from his expertise.
Bill was a regular church goer in his later years and despite being an Anglican at heart, enjoyed accompanying Wendy to her Methodist Church. He was a member of the Hayes, Kent British Legion for almost 30 years and enjoyed meeting with friends there every Friday and Sunday evening, generally putting the world to rights. He was always proud to attend the Remembrance Day service and spent many years marching from the Legion to St Mary’s Church and back, proudly wearing his medals until his poor mobility prevented him from marching and he had to drive instead!
Bill enjoyed his garden, and he and Wendy kept it in good order. One of his most memorable achievements was building a wall with screen blocks, which he and a neighbour made by hand, down the whole length and across the rear boundary of the 300ft long garden. They spent many evenings mixing the concrete, making the blocks and supports and the wall took 2 years to build. Wendy called it ‘The Great Wall of Todd’!
Bill was also an avid reader, mostly of spy fiction but also books about the universe and stars which fascinated him. As well as football, his other sporting interests were cricket and rugby. He enjoyed watching television, and latterly, particularly liked watching Coronation Street, Pointless, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and The Repair Shop. He disliked swimming and always said he could only swim to the bottom and anyway water was for washing in!! He also hated heights, particularly driving over high bridges, which he would avoid if at all possible!
Wendy and Bill enjoyed many holidays. Family ones when the children were younger, were mostly spent in the UK visiting relatives or renting cottages thus enabling them to take the dog, Tammy. In later life, amongst other foreign holidays, they enjoyed several cruises in various parts of the world, during which they made many friends. Bills proudest achievement was his family. He always said he wanted four daughters, however when nature decided there was to be almost a ten year gap, it was always going to be a tall order! Although a friend remarked ‘at least it’s regular!’.
When first Helen arrived in 1968, then Elizabeth in 1978, Bill was over the moon to have 2 daughters. He was a doting and very proud Grandad of all his five grandchildren, three great grandchildren, one step great granddaughter, as well as a loving Uncle and God Father. He genuinely loved all children and seemed to have a natural empathy, particularly with the very young. Shopping trips often found him chatting to little ones in prams and pushchairs – obviously with parental permission!
Bill suffered with quite a few medical problems during his life including prostate cancer which, thankfully he came through. The one thing that bothered him most though was the deterioration in his hearing and having to wear hearing aids. He hated being deaf!
Unfortunately, Bills health deteriorated greatly during lockdown last year and this culminated in him having to be taken to hospital four times over a short space of time. The last on 16th December. He always said that the only way he would move from the house was when he was carried out which, in a way, he was. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed in hospital with pneumonia and subsequently contracted COVID whilst there. Despite his health appearing to improve he passed away suddenly but, we were told very peacefully on the morning of January 8th aged 88.
Many have since described him as a lovely man, kind, gentle and clever, with a good sense of fun.