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Terry George Todt, 63, of Raymond died Thursday, May 23, 2019 at his home in Raymond.
A visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 29, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Lincolnwood High School Gym. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 30, at 10 a.m. at the gym with burial to follow at Asbury Cemetery in Raymond. Hough Funeral Home in Raymond is in charge of arrangements.
Terry was born on Feb. 22, 1956, at Hillsboro Hospital to the late George and Vera (Bonacorsi) Todt of Raymond. A 1974 graduate of Lincolnwood High School in Raymond, he would continue his education at Lake Land College in Mattoon, earning an associates degree in 1976.
On March 22, 1980, he would marry Brenda Pinkston and the couple would eventually raise their two children, Brendan and Brigette, in Todts boyhood home in Raymond near his beloved Crawdad Stadium, the site of what is now the Raymond Park.
Destined for a career in radio after receiving a Western Auto Trutone six transistor radio for Christmas at age seven, he would work for radio station WFWA in Sullivan for two years before an ice storm in 1978 took down the radio tower at the station. After a brief part-time stay at WLBH in Mattoon, Terry returned to work for the station that he listened to growing up, WSMI in Litchfield, where he was hired on May 16, 1978.
Rising to the position of program director and sports director, Terry is best known for being the voice of high school athletics in central Illinois for the past 41 years, having called such memorable moments as Nokomis girls basketball state championships in 1998 and 1999, Hillsboros girls basketball state championship in 2006 and his alma maters state championship run in baseball in 2009. While many will remember him for those special teams, Terry made every game he broadcast seem special with his enthusiasm for the games and the kids who play them.
For his excellence on the airwaves, he was inducted into the media division of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Illinois Coaches Association (softball) Sportsperson of the Year in 2011. He was also honored by the Bottomley-Ruffing-Schalk Baseball Museum in Nokomis, was a recipient of the Panhandle Education Foundations Distinguished Alumni Award and was the Montgomery County Cancer Associations honorary chairman.
Terrys passion for youth athletics continued away from his job. For many years he worked with the Raymond-Harvel Sports Association, serving as president and coaching and officiating baseball, basketball and soccer. He also served on the Raymond Park Board for more than 20 years, where he was instrumental in expanding the park to add a new softball field and soccer field, the latter of which was renamed Terry Todt RHSA Field in October 2018 in honor of the man who lovingly referred to the field as my field.
Not only was he the voice of high school athletics, Terry was also the voice of the community for many, serving as a guest speaker and emcee for a number of events, including the MTXE check presentations that benefitted the Lincolnwood and Nokomis sports programs in honor of his friend, the late Maury Hough.
As Houghs legacy did with the golf tournament, Terrys legacy will continue through the T. Todt Shootout, an eight-game high school basketball extravaganza that started in 2018 and will benefit the Montgomery County Cancer Association in future years.
He is survived by his wife, Brenda; children, Brendan (D.J.) Todt of Iowa and Brigette Todt of New Hampshire; grandchildren, Jacob and Zachary Todt of Iowa; brothers, Larry (Glenda) Todt of Raymond and Garry (Teresa) Todt of Farmersville; sister, Sharri (Don) Huddleston of Palmer; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Memorials may be made to the Raymond Park District. Online condolences may be left at www.houghfuneralhome.com.