James Todd Jr. ’27

James Todd Jr. died Oct. 17, 1996, at his home in Bedford, N.Y., of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Jim came to us from the Hill School. At Princeton he played polo and was a member of Clio and Tower clubs. He majored in English poetry.

After graduation he was a director of several small companies in Pittsburgh and NYC. He married Alice dePeyster of NYC in 1933. She died in 1983.

During WWII, Jim was with Gen. Patton's invasion force as G2 liaison officer to the French in Casablanca and to the British 1st Army in Tunisia. He later headed counter-intelligence operations. He rose to the rank of major and was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Croix de Guerre, and the Order of the Crown of Italy.

After the war, he headed two real estate companies and earned an MA in politics and diplomacy from Columbia U. In 1954 he organized the Mianus Gorge Preserve, the first project of the Nature Conservancy. He devoted the next 30 years to the Preserve's programs and land acquisition.

He is survived by two sons, James '61 and Fredric '67, and three daughters, Louise Ambler, Alice Biays, Anne Osborn, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The class joins them in mourning the loss of a colorful classmate.

The Class of 1927