George Todd Obituary

George Cameron Todd WEST COLUMBIA, SC - George Cameron Todd, 87, passed away peacefully on Sunday evening, April 14, 2013 in Columbia, S.C. with Elizabeth (Betty) Clarke Todd, his beloved wife of 62 years, by his side. Cameron, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Harris Todd, was born January 8, 1926 in Columbia, S.C. He graduated from Dreher High School and received his business degree from the University of South Carolina in 1950. Cameron, a World War II veteran serving in the U.S. Navy, was an exceptional businessman who used his gifts to broaden the economic base of South Carolina while remaining a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather to his four children and six grandchildren, and a philanthropic giant in numerous organizations which depended on his leadership and generosity for many years. Certainly, Cameron can be classified as a champion of free enterprise and an outstanding role model. He was, indeed, a world class individual. Cameron's greatest business accomplishment was in successfully organizing and developing the statewide establishment of Merrill Lynch, the country's largest brokerage firm. He opened offices for Merrill Lynch in Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. When Cameron started the Columbia office, there were six employees. At his retirement there were seven South Carolina offices and more than one hundred employees. Today, there are 12 statewide offices and more than 250 employees. During the peak of his career, Merrill Lynch tried to lure him away to several other offices across the country. He politely declined, citing that staying and working in South Carolina would cause his home state to grow and prosper as much as any place in the country. The retired senior vice president of the Columbia and South Carolina Merrill Lynch offices is known for his lifetime of promoting the Palmetto State as a great place to live, play, educate, and conduct business. Another great accomplishment that has far reaching effects across the Palmetto State came from his time serving as vice chairman for the Foundation for Modern Liquor Control. Along with The State newspaper's Ben Morris, Cameron was instrumental in changing the liquor laws that allowed restaurants to serve cocktails through the use of mini-bottles. This caused tourism and the restaurant economy to flourish statewide. Much has been written about Cameron's talents and energy as well as the respect he commanded in the fields of education, church life plus social and civic interests. He chaired scholarship foundations for a number of colleges and universities in the state including his passion - the University of South Carolina. Cameron served on the USC Education Foundation and built an organization that provides funds for scholarships and endowments that have greatly benefited students seeking higher education at USC. Betty and Cameron established the Todd Medical Education Endowment Fund at USC in 1977, and since that time, 114 medical students have been given the opportunity to practice medicine through this fund. He also served on search committees to select new USC presidents and established the J. Henry Fellers Chair in Economics at the USC School of Business Administration. Cameron spent years serving the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce (including as president), Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (including as Senior Warden), the United Way (including as campaign chairman), the Central Carolina Community Foundation, (as founder and first board chair), the Better Business Bureau, The Columbia Zoological Society, the Palmetto Society (including as president), the University of South Carolina (in numerous capacities), Clemson University, Coker College, Wofford College, the Columbia Music Festival, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Providence Hospital, and the Nurturing Center. He also served on boards or advisory committees for the Pawley's Island Civic Association, the Columbia Junior League, the Richland County Judicial Center, the Columbia Sertoma Club, the Better Business Bureau of Greater Columbia, the West Columbia-Cayce Chamber of Commerce, the Crayton School Parent-Teacher Association, the Federation of the Blind and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. He received the USC Algernon Sydney Sullivan award and the Palmetto Society's Humanitarian of the Year award. Cameron was a member of the Pine Tree Hunt Club, Forest Lake Country Club, the Forum Club, the St. Andrews Society and the Columbia Ball. Cameron had a passion for travel with his family, hoping to touch every continent in the world during his lifetime. He will always be remembered for the many annual fishing trips to Alaska that he organized and hosted for large groups of friends. Cameron was a business executive, civic leader, churchman, proponent of educational excellence, philanthropist, devoted husband, concerned parent and loyal friend. Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth Clarke Todd, his children, Elizabeth Todd Heckel and her husband Robert Vero Heckel of Columbia, George Cameron Todd, Jr. and his wife Sarah Hall Todd of Spartanburg, Albert Rhett Heyward Todd of Santa Barbara, Ca, and Cantey Todd Foxworth and her husband Eugene (Foxy) Dewey Foxworth, III of Mt. Pleasant, his five grandsons, George Cameron Todd, III, Eugene Hall Todd, Eugene (Foxy) Dewey Foxworth, IV, Burwell Boykin Clarke Todd, and Albert Rhett Heyward Todd, Jr., and his granddaughter, Heyward Boykin Foxworth. The family will receive friends Wednesday evening from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the Guignard Mansion at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community. Services for George Cameron Todd will be held on Thursday, April 18 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. A reception will follow the service in Satterlee Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Todd Medical Education Endowment Fund at the USC School of Medicine (c/o USC Educational Foundation, 1600 Hampton St, Columbia, 29208), Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (1100 Sumter St., Columbia, 29201), or the Central Carolina Community Foundation (2711 Middleburg Dr., Columbia, 29204). Barr-Price Funeral Home and Crematorium Lexington Chapel is assisting the family. Online register at Barr-Price.com (803) 356-4411 Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston