In Memory of C. Robert Todd and in Celebration of his Life

C. Robert "Bob" Todd

January 6, 1929 - March 8, 2010

C. Robert (Bob) Todd passed away in the evening hours of March 8th at Ponderosa Villa in Crawford surrounded by loving family. As a pastor, the Reverend Todd often preached that death was not a sad event for those that led a long and fulfilling life, and when it brought a merciful end to those in pain. With his reassuring words in mind, let the initial sadness of his passing be comforted by the peace that he now experiences.
Carl Robert Todd was born in Bayard, Nebraska, on January 6, 1929, to Vivian and Carl Todd. The family lived in various locations during the early years of his life, from Colorado to Southern California to the northern Black Hills of South Dakota. Much of his boyhood was spent on his grandparent’s farm near Whitewood, South Dakota. He credited much of his formative influence on his grandmothers, both strong pioneers in the Black Hills area and his mother, who always put family first.

Robert graduated from Sturgis High School in Sturgis, South Dakota, in 1947. He met Dorothy Dodson at a Methodist Youth Fellowship event during high school and they were married in August of 1950. Robert graduated in 1952 from Black Hills State College in Spearfish, SD, with a Bachelor of Science degree. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Iliff Seminary in Denver, CO, in 1955 and was ordained as a minister in the South Dakota Conference of the Methodist Church. During the early years of their marriage, Robert and Dorothy lived in Edgemont and Oelrichs, SD, where Robert served congregations that included the nearby communities of Pringle, Oral, and Smithwick.

During the time they lived in Oelrichs, Robert began substitute teaching at the local high school, which evolved into a full-time teaching profession. He received a Masters of Teaching Science degree in 1966 from Washington State University in Pullman, WA. In 1963, the family moved to Harrison, Nebraska, where Robert became the science teacher at Sioux County High School, a position that he held until his retirement in 1993, having taught two generations of students from local families. Governor E. Benjamin Nelson appointed him an honorary “Admiral” in the “Great Navy of Nebraska” upon his retirement.

Robert also continued to serve the ministry after moving to Harrison, serving congregations in the Congregational Church in both Crawford and Lusk, Wyoming. Robert’s unique combination of vocations of religion and teaching science were never a source of conflict for him. As modern science probed deeper into the wonders and explanations of our universe, Robert looked at these beautiful and intricate details and saw God’s hand.

Robert is survived by his wife Dorothy of Harrison, daughter Linda Thurman (husband Jeff) of Lincoln, son Larry (wife Jayne) of Calama, Chile, son Wayne of Warren, Oregon, sister Coral Etta Stevens and brother Richard Todd (wife Marjorie) both of Rapid City, SD. He is also survived by seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He performed wedding ceremonies and baptisms for many of the above and will be dearly missed by all he touched.

Robert was a member of the Big Sky Shrine Club, the Tehama Shriners, the Samaritan Masonic Lodge, the Scottish and York rites, and the Ivy Leaf Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star. In 1994-95 he was the Worthy Grand Patron of the Nebraska Order of Eastern Star.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Larry's dad experienced several health care issues in the later years of his life. Through that time, he continued to teach to those who paid attention but he did so without saying a word. He taught through example, that even though you may not feel "good," you won't feel any better by making sure that those near you know exactly how uncomfortable you are. He taught that even though you may not feel "good," you continue to greet those near you with a smile, with a "hello" and with a "thank-you." He handled his discomfort with grace and dignity which I'll remember when my time comes to deal with the later years of my life.

We left Calama on Wednesday, March 3, midday. Due to the earthquake in southern Chile, the Santiago airport was not operating normally. We were told by the Freeport representatives dealing with travel arrangements that we could most likely get out of Calama and travel to Santiago; however, they were unable to guarantee when we would be able to leave Santiago to travel to the U.S.

Several of the good people working with Larry decided that the best way for us to get out of Chile was to drive seven hours northwest of Calama to the border community of Arica, Chile. One of the fellows who works with Larry rode with us to, a) bring Larry's truck back to Calama, and b) make sure we experienced no problems crossing the border from Chile to Peru. I've left out a key part of our plan to travel to the U.S. -- we were to cross the border from Chile to the border community of Tacna, Peru, and fly from there to Lima and from there to Miami and from there to Denver at which time we would rent a car and drive the five hours to Northwest Nebraska. It worked! Rodrigo facilitated crossing the Chile/Peru border by first arranging for us to leave Larry's truck in a secure parking area in Arica. He then arranged for travel through a taxi driver who arranged for the processing of the necessary paperwork and delivered us to Tacna -- all for around $30. So, we'd traveled for seven hours by vehicle; arranged for and crossed the Chile/Peru border which took another two hours; arrived at our hotel in Tacna and walked to a Peruvian restaurant where I once again enjoyed Lomo Saltado! Thanks to all the folks in Larry's office at El Abra who came up with the plan and thanks Rodrigo for making sure that any issues related to crossing the border were avoided.

So, with our stomachs full, we got some sleep that night and headed for the Tacna International Airport the following morning bright and early for our 6 a.m. flight to Lima. The rest of our travels the following day went smoothly allowing our arrival in Denver around 9 p.m. We drove up the road for a bit and finally stopped. We arrived in Harrison on Friday around noon.

We were grateful to share Robert's last days with Larry's mom Dorothy, his sister, Linda and Robert's sister, Co.

Following Robert's passing, I was gifted with another lesson: how to be of assistance/service to a family who has lost a loved one. Harrison community members began stopping by immediately with kind words of condolence for the family and words of how Robert had blessed their lives with his. These community members brought by paper plates, cups, cutlery, toilet paper!, napkins, stamps!, food, food and more food and cinnamon rolls! The people in this town know how to bake cinnamon rolls! Robert's sister Co taught me to keep a spiral notebook by the front door to keep track of who brought what for ease in sending thank-you notes after the fact. People can complain about the challenges associated with life in a small town but I must say, the support that that same community provides during times like these is invaluable and treasured.

Nebraska weather held true and provided us with snow and chilly temps upon our arrival which thrilled Larry in that he was once again able to ... shovel!

Robert's sister Co (Coral Etta), Dorothy and Linda.

Linda with her Aunt Coco

Larry's brother Wayne and his daughter Sophia were the first to arrive so we grabbed the opportunity of taking a photo of Sophi with her two aunts on the Todd side of the family.

Wayne and Dorothy

The rest of the family continued to arrive as well as many friends who made very much appreciated special stops at the house.

Monday, March 15, arrived - the day to celebrate the life of Robert. Nieces and nephews as well as friends of some of Robert's grandchildren traveled great distances to be present in celebrating Robert's life -- an honor.

(l-r) Lauren (nephew Joel's girlfriend) , Dorothy, Karyl (sitting), Crystal and Elizabeth.

(l-r) Karyl, Elizabeth, Tabitha, Dorothy, Crystal, Kennedy (Crystal's daughter), me, Linda and Lauren.

(l-r) Wayne, Linda, Jeff and Larry

The fellows in the family honored Robert this day by each of them wearing one of Robert's many ties.

Wayne, Linda and Larry

(l-r) Larry's cousin Lora (Sturgis, SD), Marjorie (Robert's brother's wife), Richard (Robert's brother from Rapid City) and Robert's little sister Co (Rapid City)

Dorothy's brother Ronald who traveled with his family from Omaha.

Linda and Jeff's youngest, Tabitha (on the left) and Todd is on the right. 

As I put this blog together, I'm well aware of the number of photos I failed to get. My wish would have been to have one of Larry and his brother and sister with Dorothy. I'm also missing a photo of our nephew Joel - not sure how that happened! I regret not getting a photo of Co's son Todd who traveled from Minnesota and Co's two daughters: Sandra (and her family) and Stephanie (and her family) all of whom traveled from the Rapid City area; Dorothy's niece Sandy who traveled from Illinois and a picture of Dorothy's brother's wife Lola and their daughters, Kimberly (from the Washington D.C. area) and Pam (from Omaha); and Dorothy's sister Dee and her daugher Judy and Judy's husband Pat from the Sturgis, SD. area. I'm wondering who I'm forgetting to mention here...ah!, Richard and Marjorie's son Rod who traveled from the Rapid City area.

We made a quick trip to Rapid City and were able to meet with the buddies from there: Brad and Ann and Danny.

And then there is our good friend Virginia who was so helpful and supportive during the difficult time of being so far away - love ya kiddo!

The positive aspect that is a result of the death of a loved one is the gathering of family and friends to celebrate and honor that loved one's life and to give thanks for the blessing of that person influencing our lives in such a positive, loving, caring way. Linda told me that her father would often say, "What did you learn from this?"

Goodbye Robert.

Chuquicamata Cemetery

The Chuquicamata mine sits just outside of Calama and has been mined since Inca days. Industrial production of this copper mine began in the late 1800s.  There is/was actually a town next to the mining facility with, of course, a cemetery which we stopped to visit on our return trip from Chug Chug.

Before I insert the pictures, I wanted to share that the Chuqui population was moved to Calama in 2005/2006 due to environmental issues. This is a nasty mine to live near, even here in Calamaville so can't imagine what it was like to live right next to it. A smokestack at the mine spews (I'll have to check with Larry on what it is actually spewing but whatever it is, along with being a very barren desert, air quality is adversly affected!)   The government company that operates the mine is called Codelco.  As I understand, Codelco provides housing for all employees here in Calama. To accomodate the Chuqui population in Calama, Codelco built duplex-type homes in various locations throughout Calama.  I'll stop here with the benefits the workers receive -- there are too many to identify! -- not that receiving benefits from the company you work for is bad!

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to show the cemetery. 

Yikes! I've instructed Larry that I prefer cremation should I die while here in Calama!

We traveled to Antofagasta to visit our friend Maria Gracia and her son Jeremy in January. Maria Gracia lives in Canada but is from Antofagasta and returns during this time of year to visit family.  One of our first posts on this blog was our trip to Antofagasta a year ago to visit them.  We're going to like this tradition as long as we're living in Chile.  (Note: Maria Gracia was born in the town of Chuquicamata.)

(l-r: Maria Gracia's niece and her sister visiting from Punta Arenas, Maria Gracia's father and mother and Maria Gracia.  Jeremy was along for the visit too but the little guy was sleeping as this was at 2 a.m. and we took this photo as we were heading out the door.  We had a lovely dinner and very much enjoyed meeting the family.  We're sorry Dave [Maria Gracia's husband] had to stay home and work!

Cajamarca Reunion in Tunquen, Chile

The weekend of February 19th, we escaped Calamaland by flying to Santiago, renting a car and heading to our friends Miguel and Eliana's home in the Chilean coastal community of Tunquen (south of Valparaiso for those who are looking at a map.) We had visted Miguel and Eliana last March so knew what we were in for and very much looking forward to it!

Once we crossed the coastal range, we dropped down into the Casa Blanca Valley known for producing many of the fine quality Chilean white wines. Below is a photo of the Veramont Winery where we stopped to purchase some wine for the weekend as well as enjoy a tasting.

And what a tasting experience it was! I liked how they put the bottle of the wine you were tasting in front of the corresponding glass.

We then headed down the road stopping at the Indomita Winery to lunch. We had lunched here with Miguel and Eliana a year earlier and remembered well the food as well as the view.

The purpose in this particular visit to Tunquen was to reunite in South America with our friends that we had originally met in Peru. Miguel and Eliana graciously offered that we all gather at their home in Tunquen for this reunion. The reunion was made possible in that Billie and Laurie's husbands are working on a project in Cajamarca so we all find ourselves living in South America again. Miguel and Eliana are from Chile but have spent a lot of time living/working in the U.S.

(l-r: Billie Briggs, me, Eliana and Laurie Hubard)

Laurie, Eliana and I all lived in Cajamarca, Peru, back in the early 2000s. Billie was lucky enough to live in Lima during her Peru experience but ventured north to Cajamarca to visit us every now and again.

Eliana and Miguel had arranged with their neighbors (who happen to be in Hong Kong) for we three couples to stay at their home while in Tunquen. Thanks Miguel and Eliana! and you sure have nice neighbors! This was a view of the coast right by the house we were staying in.

(l-r: Larry, Simon Briggs, Laurie and Eliana)

And this was the home we stayed in. Miguel and Eliana's home is on the other side of the road.

This photo was from one of the three porches on this house.

On Saturday, Miguel prepared a seafood paella - what a process. It looked beautiful and the part I had (anything that didn't have clams!, mussels! or squid!) was delicious. I was told the seafood part was very good.

The newest addition to Miguel and Eliana's family is Triago - the 9 month old son of their daughter and her husband.  What a cute kid!

We ended our stay by baking homemade pizzas in Miguel's new pizza oven. Sure hated to leave but all good things must end -- but why!?

(l-r: Mike Hubbard, Larry, Simon Briggs and Miguel)

Chug Chug December 2009

We visited a geoglyph site near Iquique (to the north) when we first arrived in Chile and knew that there was a site near Calama so decided to use a quiet weekend (okay, generally when we are in Calama all weekends are quiet) in between Christmas and New Year's to visit Chug Chug.

I decided I needed a lesson regarding terminology which I'll share with you here:

A *petroglyph is an  image created on a rock by removing part of the rock surface.
A *pictograph is an image drawn or painted on a rock surface.
A *geoglyph is a drawing on the ground by arranging stones, stone fragments, gravel or earth to create a positive geoglyph (raised) or removing stones, etc., to expose ground and create a negative geoglyph.
*Thanks Wikipedia!

As evidenced by the sign we found at the site, there wasn't a lot of information regarding these geoglyphs. The sign is merely stating that Chug Chug is an archeological site and to respect it.  I'm ever grateful for Google and my ability to find information on nearly anything I have a question about. See below this picture a link that references Chug Chug and a brief summary of the information I found at that site.

According to:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/arica/A39129.html

pre-Columbian geoglyphs have been found in the Atacama Desert between Calama and Nazca in Peru. The geoglyphs were created between the 11th and 15th centuries and are believed to have most likely served as route markers for travelers.

It is amazing that we were able to follow a path that passes by some of the geoglyphs.

The Atacama Desert never ceased to amaze me at how barren it is. 

2009 Comes to an End

Since my last post, we:
1. celebrated our second Thanksgiving in Calama with the other expat families,
2. traveled to North America in early December,
3. celebrated our first Christmas and New Year's in Calama,
4. and had a going away tea for our friend Odessa.

We all wanted leftover turkey so three of us cooked a turkey for the gathering the weekend before Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving Day was just another workday). In the photo are Odessa and her husband David carving a turkey in the background and Josh carving a turkey in the foreground.

























Larry had business in Vancouver, B.C., the first part of December and I tagged along.  We traveled Calama, Santiago, Dallas and Denver on this trip.  We then rented a vehicle in Denver and drove to Scottsbluff arriving in time to pick up Larry's dad and take him home after nearly 4 months of either being in the hospital or a care facility.  Can't imagine how good that must have felt.

We traveled to Chadron to see Virginia and Dennis and watch Nebraska football. I don't remember who we played but do remember we lost.  Could be that Virginia, Cherri and I visited a bit during the game ....

The trips back to Harrison during 2009 allowed us to enjoy Lilacs in May, raking leaves in October and shoveling snow this last trip.  We enjoyed the snow and cold knowing we'd be leaving!

We left on Monday heading back to Denver with Larry going to Vancouver and me to Phoenix.  Loved getting to see nephew Jimmy again and meeting his new dog and always enjoy seeing Jim and Liz too.

Sue traveled with me for a quick trip to Safford to take care of business related to the HOUSE THAT WE STILL HAVE FOR SALE THERE!  Anyway, took care of business and then headed to a friend's home to spend the night.  Always fun to get to see Becky and Marty and the kids.

Upon return to Phoenix I had dinner with friend Karen Gildersleeve (where was my camera?) and ended the time in Phoenix by celebrating Sue's birthday -- what a great way to end this trip to the U.S. 

l-r: Sue, Allison (back), Barb W., Jackie, Barb N. (back), Michelle, Joan (back) and Susie.

Larry left Vancouver and I left Phoenix and we met up in Dallas and headed "home." 

On Christmas Eve, we invited our neighbors over for an open house.

l-r: Regina, Patricia, Janette, Tracey, Julie and Odessa.

l-r: Ruben, Martin, David, Marcello, Josh, Carlos, Larry and Guillermo.

Patricia's birthday was on the 23rd and Ruben and I share the 24th.

Larry's assistant Rosalia stopped by too.

Odessa was the expat wife here when I arrived and had been here for 5 years at that time.  She is a kind, helpful, generous person.  She was my exercise buddy, grocery shopping buddy and Spanish language acquisition cheerleader.  I'm glad for her that she gets to return to life in the U.S. but I'm going to miss her terribly.  Bye Odessa!  Thank goodness for email!

l-r: Regina, Patricia, Odessa, Tracey, Janette and Lita.