Tombstone By Tombstone: Here Lies the Old West (Volume 1)
Tom Todd was born in Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas, on December 6, 1939. Because of his love for Old West history, he has often said he was born 100 years too late. While in the seventh grade his family moved him to Milwaukee. He also says you can move the boy out of the south, but you can’t move the south out of the boy. Three of his great grandfathers fought for the Southern cause and he is an active member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. After graduating from South Division High School in Milwaukee, he joined the Navy with his closest friend who was about to be drafted into the Army. His friend returned to civilian life after his first enlistment, and Tom served in Naval Aviation for twenty years. He married Nanci Jean Flier while in the Navy and they had four children, all born in San Diego. Tami, a nurse, still lives in San Diego with her daughter Katarina. Dena was born next, and this book is dedicated to her memory. Greg and Jeff followed the girls and continued a family tradition of military service. They both joined the Army and Jeff made it a career. Greg lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with his wife Lisa. Greg has four children, Brandon, Graydon, Carli, and Emily. Jeff lives in Northeast, Maryland, with his wife Christine, who is also a retired Army Veteran. They have one son, Jeff, Jr. After his retirement, Tom used his GI Bill and earned a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. In his retirement, Tom married Judith J. (Meek) Spade. Judy is the mother of three sons. Bryan Spade and his newly wedded wife live in Scottsdale, Arizona. Andy Spade and his wife Kate live in New York City with their daughter, Beatrix. David Spade lives in California and has one daughter, Harper. After his retirement from the Navy, Tom worked for three different helicopter companies. He never changed desks, but the name of the company kept changing. Hughes Helicopter Company became McDonnell Douglas, which became Boeing, and Tom continued supplying foreign militaries with the world’s finest attack helicopter, the AH-64 Apache. After more than 20 years, he again retired. One of the highlights of his retirement was attending George W. Bush’s second inauguration. Tom and Judy moved to Show Low in the White Mountains of Arizona and for more than two years he has been providing monthly stories of historical Arizona characters to the local Maverick Magazine. The popularity of those articles, some of which are included herein, led to this book.