By Lane Wallace, Special to the Pajaronian
Bob Todd, the former Sports Editor of The Pajaronian, died Jan. 12 at his home in Bishop, Inyo County, after a short illness. He was 57.
After attending Cabrillo College, Todd worked at The Pajaronian from 1984 to 1995, the last six of those years as Sports Editor.
Todd was a stickler for accuracy and “a ton of fun to be around,” said Dave Burge, who worked alongside Todd on the sports staff for nine years.
“One summer, Bob was between houses. He decided to pitch a tent at the beach and continued to lead our sports department every day,” Burge said. “He joked, ‘Next year, I’m going to rent a house for my vacation.’ That was Bob in a nutshell, always seeing the whimsy and humor in everything.”
After leaving the Pajaronian, Todd worked briefly as a sportswriter for the Inyo Register. He then joined Sierra Wave Broadcasters in Bishop, which started with a radio station and later added television.
Todd started a morning shift that he built into the Bob Todd Show, station manager Bill LeFever wrote on the station’s website last week. The station had an adult contemporary format, LeFever said, but Todd gradually worked in Grateful Dead and classic rock songs. LeFever said Todd built a “huge following” for the music he played and the sports he reported on.
When he wasn’t reporting on sports, Todd was an avid golfer and enjoyed watching sports on TV.
Born in Anaheim Aug. 15, 1962, Todd graduated in 1981 from Loara High School in Anaheim, where he played on the basketball team.
Todd’s parents, William and Barbara, predeceased him. He leaves two brothers, Randy and Spike (Debbie), both of Mammoth Lakes, a sister, Linda Hambey (Mark) of Anaheim Hills, and nephews Todd Hambey, Eric Hambey and David Brann.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. March 7 in the Heritage Arts building of the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop.
The family prefers donations to icareforpets.org or ICARE, Box 76, Bishop, 93515 in Todd’s name.
