Posted on: Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Rev. Edward Todd, school founder, dead at 89

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

KIHEI, Maui — The Rev. Edward Todd fulfilled one of his last wishes in March by witnessing the groundbreaking for a $2.5 million building program at Doris Todd Memorial Christian School in Pai'a, a school he founded with his late wife nearly 50 years ago.

Todd, 89, died Saturday at his home in Kihei.

He devoted his life to missionary work on Maui and elsewhere in the Pacific. Leta Carpenter, vice principal at the memorial school in Pai'a, said Todd will be remembered for "his friendliness toward people and his love of the Lord."

Todd was born March 28, 1912, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and later moved to Canada and then Pennsylvania, where he met his first wife. The couple served as missionaries in the Philippines until forced to leave because of Doris Todd's failing health.

Wishing to continue mission work with the Filipino community, they decided to move to Maui in 1954, Carpenter said. The Todds saw a need for more Christian education on Maui and opened a preschool in their home. A few years later their Pa'ia Baptist School moved to a bigger site and added grade levels.

The name was changed to Doris Todd Memorial Christian School after Doris Todd's death in 1965. Today, the school accepts students from preschool through Grade 8 and has an enrollment of 143.

Edward Todd also founded Ha'iku Bible Church in the late 1950s and Paipala Church and started Maui Christian Book Shop, which now operates in Kahului.

With his second wife, Mabel Sharples, a teacher at the school, Todd moved to New Zealand in 1987. He returned to Maui in 1997 and retired a couple of years ago.

Todd served in the U.S. Army during World War II .

Visitation will be 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at Ballard Family Mortuary, with a service at 7 p.m. Visitation continues at 8 a.m. Saturday at Doris Todd Memorial Christian School, with a service at 9 a.m. Burial will follow at Maui Veterans Cemetery.

The family requests aloha attire. In lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Doris Todd school's building fund.

Along with his wife of 33 years, Mabel, Todd's survivors include a son, Ed Todd of Oregon; a daughter, Mrs. James (Barbara) Chapman of New Zealand; and six grandchildren.