Dell Toedt
From Toedt.com Web site
Our dad, Dell C. Toedt, Lt. Col. USAF (ret), 79, died Saturday, November 21, 2009, of complications from chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML).
We've posted a photo album at the Google Picasa site.
Dad was born April 16, 1930, in Laurel, Iowa, the eldest child of Delbert C. Toedt and Helen Dunn Toedt; he was the grandson of Charles and Annie Albers Toedt, of Newton (Iowa) and Laurel respectively; and of Mike and Annie O'Reilly Dunn, of Horseleap and Adamstown, respectively, in County Westmeath, Ireland.
Dad grew up first on a farm near Laurel, and then in town. He graduated from Laurel High School, where he played basketball and semi-pro baseball. He liked to brag that he was voted "Best Dancer" of his (very small) high school class, which invariably prompted a chuckle from our mom, who actually was a good dancer.
Dad attended the University of Iowa for the two years he needed to be able to join the Air Force as an aviation cadet. After finishing flying school and being commissioned as a second lieutenant, he was shipped off to the Korean War, where he flew 100 combat missions in P-51 fighters with a photo-reconnaissance squadron. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in a firefight with ground troops who had just shot down his flight leader. (The week he died, he got a call from a Defense Department official looking for information to be used in locating the flight leader's remains; he was very pleased to be able to help even in his last days.)
After Korea, Dad was assigned to a ferrying squadron, first in Long Beach, California — where he met our mom, Gloria Miletich — and then in San Antonio. Some of Dad's war stories (literally) from his ferrying days are posted at "Memories of a Mustang Driver," Part I, Part II, and Part III; thanks to Mario Overall of the Latin American Aviation Historical Society for providing these links. While assigned to the ferrying squadron, Dad was sent back to Iowa on temporary duty to complete his bachelor's degree under Operation Bootstrap.
Dad's next assignment was at Deols Air Base in France, where we lived "on the economy" in a little farming village and traveled around western Europe. Mom and Dad made lifelong friends there; those three years were perhaps the highlight of their lives.
Dad was then transferred, in succession, to Commerce, Texas, for duty as an ROTC instructor at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M Commerce), where he earned a master's degree and was ABD ("all but dissertation") for a Ph.D in psychology; to Washington D.C.; to Florida; and finally back to San Antonio for a twilight tour.
Dad's post-retirement life included teaching graduate courses in psychology for many years at St. Mary's University; woodworking; and traveling with Mom, including visiting Europe with Mom's family — he was very proud to have married into the Miletich clan — and visiting our sister Liz when she was stationed in Korea.
Dad was diagnosed with CMML some three and a half years ago; it started affecting him almost immediately, but he was determined to stay alive as long as necessary to take care of Mom, who was suffering from the heart problems from which she died earlier this year.
About a month ago, in consultation with his doctor, Dad elected to discontinue chemotherapy. His brother and sister visited him three weekends ago, along with some of his children and grandchildren, which delighted him.
Dad started to go seriously downhill about a week before his death. His final few hours were not easy for him, but he remained lucid, in good spirits, and in command of his situation, until quite literally his last breath.
We're grateful to Dad's doctors and to the VITAS hospice nurses who looked after him during his last days; we're also grateful that Dad got his wish to die at home with his family.
Dad was predeceased by his parents and by our mom, Gloria Miletich Toedt, to whom he was married for 55 years and who died in February of this year. His survivors include:
- son D.C. Toedt III and wife Maretta of Houston, and their children Richard and Elizabeth;
- daughter Martha Toedt Williams and husband Charles of Houston, and their sons Alex and Matthew;
- daughter CDR Elizabeth Toedt, USN (ret.) and husband Robert Rudolph of Olympia, Washington, and their son Jordan;
- son David Toedt of San Antonio, daughter-in-law Rebecca Saenz Toedt of San Antonio, and their sons Robert, Thomas, and Stephen;
- brother and sister-in-law Jack and Ann Tate of Newport Beach, CA;
- sister and brother-in-law Joanne and Jim Herendeen of El Paso;
- brother- and sister-in-law Eli Jr. and Carol Miletich of Duluth, Minnesota;
- brother- and sister-in-law Thomas and Jo Miletich of Pascagoula, Mississippi;
- sister-in-law Eva Miletich Sharp and brother-in-law in all but name Tiny Cole of Dallas;
- sister-in-law Virginia Lanthier Miletich of Minneapolis; and
- numerous nieces and nephews.
At Dad's direction, his body will be cremated; a funeral Mass and interment will take place on Saturday, January 9, 2010, at 3 pm, at Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, 15415 Red Robin Road, San Antonio, Texas 78255 (map).
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