Community Corner

A Tribute to a Mount Vernon Legend

A tribute to a Mount Vernon legend, by Ashley McNeff, close friend and fellow MVLCC Board member

Anyone who has been involved in elementary thru high school in Mount Vernon-Lee knows Jeff Todd.

Anyone who has been involved in Good Shepherd Housing or UCM in Mount Vernon-Lee knows Jeff Todd.

Anyone who has been involved in youth sports leagues in Mount Vernon-Lee knows Jeff Todd.

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Let's keep it simple.  Repeat the above sentences and fill in the blank with just about anything that affects Mount Vernon-Lee for the area of involvement and community service.  The sentence will always end with "knows Jeff Todd".

There's no way I can truly describe all of the contributions of Jeff. Jeff Todd, Owner of Roy Rogers Restaurants in the Mount Vernon area, was a remarkable leader throughout the Mount Vernon and Lee communities. 

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Jeff has contributed countless hours, money and food to local schools, the police and fire departments, charities, businesses, non-profits, child sports leagues and many more groups over the past few decades. 

He is a man of character, a man who loves his family and faith, and a man who has respect and love for everyone he comes in contact with.  Jeff was extremely humble and has always downplayed the effect that he has had over the community, but that’s because he constantly put the feelings of others before himself.     

Todd's involvement in the community was almost without boundaries, all thankless jobs that Jeff performed with no expectation of personal reward.

Jeff loved the Mount Vernon-Lee community and worked tirelessly over the years to improve it by providing the much needed leadership that all communities need to move forward.  We all agree that this community has been moving forward, and Jeff Todd is one of the main reasons why it has. 

Jeff’s leadership within the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce over the past few years has been relentless.   He put all of himself into the Chamber positions, whether it was Vice President, President or Chairman.  Every opportunity there was to be at an event or new business ribbon cutting, Jeff was there and with a smile on his face.

During the past couple of years, Jeff has been working diligently as a volunteer Assistant Coach with the Mount Vernon High School Football Team.  The team has come a long way these past couple years and even made it to the playoffs.  Not only has the team advanced on the field, but also academically and we owe that not only to the Head Coach, but also Jeff Todd. 

He feeds the kids before the games, provides snacks, coaches, is a fan and spends numerous hours assisting the team both on and off the field alongside his daughter, Kimberly. 

I am sure I have left out many other areas of service where Jeff has stepped up to the plate, probably because he is always there to do what needs to be done, and many times we have taken that for granted. 

Jeff was a wonderful citizen, volunteer, business owner, father to two beautiful girls (who he affectionately called “his babies” – Hannah and Kimberly), husband to an amazing wife (Becky), brother, uncle, son, community leader and friend. 

As a proud Mount Vernon citizen, fellow Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber Board member and good friend of Jeff’s – I would like to say that he was truly loved by all who knew him.  My husband (Adam) and I will both treasure the fun times spent with Jeff, Becky and the kids. 

We appreciate everything he has done to make this world a better place and we feel that our lives have been brighter because Jeff was in it.  We will love and miss him always.   


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