We lost a giant last week
May 12th, 2008, 12:58 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Kent Kilpatrick
Last Friday, Jacksonville lost a giant. Someone not large in height or girth, but a giant in heart and dedication to Jacksonville. His name was Gilbert Todd.
I first met Mr. Todd just a few days after I arrived in Jacksonville in November of 2005. Gilbert called to welcome me to Jacksonville and make sure I knew what a wonderful community that I had joined. One could tell from the tone of his voice how sincere he was about his love and praise of Jacksonville and the people who lived here. You couldn’t help but feel both excited and nervous all at the same time! Excited because from what he was telling me, this was a great place to live. Nervous because he expected great things out of me, to become involved and give back….immediately!
I had heard of who Mr. Todd was through some of the folks that work here at the paper, that he was the head of Premier Bank and one of our better advertisers. So right off I knew this was someone I needed to get to know. But the funny thing was when he called me, and later came to visit, he never once talked about the bank or about his advertising.
He talked about Jacksonville.
He was more interested in getting me involved in something to better the community than he was about any business issues he needed to discuss.
Don’t get me wrong, Gilbert was very much a businessman. His life in banking had served this community well, from his long tenure with Elliott State Bank and then as one of the founders of Premier, he always seemed to keep Jacksonville and our community at the forefront of whatever he did. I never spoke with him about it, but I can almost assure anyone that his love for this town and desire to make it the best it could be was the main reason he went together with Ray Green and other investors and started Premier Bank. He wanted a local, top notch financial institution that would work to help and finance a better town. I think folks like Mr. Green, John Power and Paul White would probably agree with this statement. I’m sure they all wanted a successful business, but they all also wanted a better Jacksonville. Gilbert was the head of this effort for sure.
He was a man of few words but when he spoke, he got right down to the business at hand. But he was a man of passion and excitement. In the short time I knew him, he never backed away from a challenge. If anything, he embraced them and often created them. As an example, just recently Gilbert read an article in a banking trade magazine about an organization that was spearheading renewal and revitalization in small communities around the country. Gilbert didn’t just contemplate if this would be a good thing for Jacksonville, he took action. He contacted the firm and arranged for the head of the company to come here to speak. He personally called over a couple of dozen folks from within the community to come listen to the vision. He took the lead. This we will miss tremendously.
I had the pleasure of serving on the Salvation Army Board of Directors with Gilbert and he was always one of the most dynamic forces during our meetings. He could be critical, but always in a professional manner. He was always someone I saw as self giving, never self serving.
I’m sure if he were here today to read this, perhaps his response would be that Jacksonville gave so much to him that he was only returning the favor. Well Mr. Todd, I think it is you that gave so much of yourself to our town and seeing it prosper that we need to return to you the favor and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you have done for us.
We did lose a giant among us last week, and his name was Gilbert Todd.
