Mike Todd

He is survived by many who love him, including his wife Amy McMahon, his parents, David and Gretta Todd; his siblings: Michelle Pike (Claudia Ross), Tiffani (Scott) Tosch and Dave (Joyce) Todd; and nieces and nephews: Kaitlynn Pike, Allyson Todd, Trinity Tosch, Benjamin Todd and Abah Tosch. He was predeceased by his mother, Judith Bennett.

After growing up in the Detroit-area, Mike attended the University of Michigan and was a long-time, die-hard Wolverine. He worked at the Moose Preserve in Bloomfield Hills, MI until he started his own IT consulting business. Mike moved to Chicago in 2006, maintaining his business until very close to his death.

He spent the last year and a half of his 44 years working to keep his gastric (stomach) cancer at bay. Below is a note from his blog, thicktomystomach.com:

“As hard as it is to hear, the reality of stage 4 metastatic stomach cancer is that it is, from a medical perspective, almost always terminal. This doesn’t rule out a miracle or an intervention from God (for which so many are praying for me!) but it does mean that my treatment is focused on quality of life and keeping the disease from spreading for as long as possible. My treatment is not a cure, but rather an extension of life.”

Many have asked where they can make donations and the family has chosen DeGregorio Family Foundation.

DFF was founded in 2006 after a tenth member of the DeGregorio family succumbed to stomach cancer. There are few high profile advocacy groups that garner interest in this disease in the United States so DFF was founded specifically to help fund research for stomach and esophageal cancer. You can click http://www.degregorio.org/wp/items/michael-frank-hill-todd/ to donate on Mike’s specific page.

Memorials for Mike will be held in three locations:

Saturday, February 9th from 4-8:30pm ET at the Knights of Columbus Northside Events and Social Club, 2100 E 71st St, Indianapolis, IN 46220 – northsidekofc.org

Saturday, February 16th from 6-10pm ET at the Iroquois Club, 43248 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 – theiroquoisclub.com

Friday, February 22nd from 4-8p CT at Rockit Bar and Grill, 22 W Hubbard, Chicago, IL 60654 – rockitbarandgrill.com

Mike will be remembered as a caring, fun-loving person who lived each day with purpose, humor and an unbridled spirit.

Last fall, out of nowhere, Mike looked at his wife Amy and said “all things considered, I am happy and consider myself lucky”. She told him that was one of the many things that would serve as his legacy – his determination to be happy and respond to situations and outside forces with an understanding that while we can’t control things, we can control our reaction to them.

If those who loved him can help bring that spirit forward in their own lives, he will always live on.