Leone Kae Todd

7/10/1937 ~ 1/11/2023

Leone Kae Todd, aka Toni, 85, passed away peacefully on January 11th, 2023 in Midlothian, Virginia surrounded by her loving family.

Although her parents were living in Salt Lake City, Toni was born at her grandmother’s home in Spring City, Utah to James Leon Syndergaard and Wanda Nyberg on July 10, 1937. She grew up with her siblings Jeanene and Erwyn and lots of extended family close by. Family was always important to Toni.

While living with her Aunt Klea, Toni met the man of her dreams, Vern Todd. Unfortunately, she was engaged to someone else, and her Aunt made her return her engagement ring before she could say yes to Vern! 66 years and 7 children later, Vern is still the love of her life and was by her side every day.

Toni loved reading and learning but never had the chance to graduate from high school since she started an accelerated program at the University of Utah, then left to seek employment. One of her greatest accomplishments was earning her Bachelor’s degree at age 82 and getting to enjoy the reward of finally graduating from something! Love of education was an integral part of who she was and she loved sharing her love of learning by reading and teaching her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Her life was full of service, she lived every day to serve the family that she and her sweetheart had built. From watching her grandchildren during their summers off from school to helping teach her great grandchildren to read, she was always willing to support her family in any way she could. She loved to be useful and felt best when busy serving. She also spent countless hours serving in her church, and she and Vern served three full time missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ecuador, Manhattan, and Uruguay. The Temple was one of her favorite places to be and she was able to serve as a temple worker in six different temples and in two different languages. As she struggled with the Spanish language, her motto was “The Lord does not call the qualified; he qualifies the called.”

Toni loved her life and celebrating events with her family. She will be remembered for always exclaiming “oh, for fun!” and “ oh, for cute”, or really “oh, for…” anything after her family would tell their stories. We will always laugh at the memories of her wry sense of humor and hilarious mispronunciation of words. We are lucky to have her as a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother and the immeasurable blessing of being loved by her.

Toni is survived by her beloved husband, Vern Todd; her children, Tauna Blaisdell, Kristeen (Dale) Witt, Kimberlee (KJ) Judy, Karen (Octavio) Gonzalez, Kathleen Daniels, Brian (Cathy) Todd, and John Todd. As well as 19 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, January 16, 2023 at 11:00 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 10660 Duryea Drive, Richmond, VA 23235. Internment will be at Spring City, Utah Cemetery January 28, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. under the care of Rasmussen Mortuary.

The Graveside recording will be available for 60 day from date of services. 

Click Here to watch recorded Graveside Service.