Obituary: Frances Hays Todd / Animal lover, artist, WWII bomb maker

Obituary: Frances Hays Todd / Animal lover, artist, WWII bomb maker
Oct. 3, 1925 - Oct. 3, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
By Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Frances Hays Todd, an artist and animal lover who worked in a factory making incendiary bombs during World War II, died last week. She was 83.
Mrs. Todd's son-in-law, Charles Stewart, said she died from complications related to emphysema.
Mrs. Todd, of Ligonier, known as Susie, grew up in Squirrel Hill and Fox Chapel.
After attending The Ellis School, Mrs. Todd graduated from Chatham Hall, a boarding school in Chatham, Va.
In her memoirs, she recalls putting her equestrian talents to use during World War II, when her father, president of the family-owned Iron City Tool Works, had her drive a team of roan Percheron draft horses hauling a wagon load of forged picks to a freight train bound for the Army.
"She was young, gutsy woman who wasn't afraid of animals," said Mr. Stewart, of Squirrel Hill. "She was able to put her talents to use."
Later, Mrs. Todd worked in a factory making casings for bombs, drove military personnel around Pittsburgh and also served as a courier at the Frontier Nursing Service in Wendover, Ky.
"She knew horses, and often the nurses were stationed in remote locations and she was able to deliver supplies and communications by horseback."
In 1954, she married Burt K. Todd and, after spending their honeymoon in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where Mrs. Todd was the first American woman to visit the country, the couple settled on a farm in Ligonier.
Mrs. Todd rode and raised horses. She also competed in horse shows. Her love and commitment to riding and foxhunting led to Mrs. Todd being appointed master of fox hounds for the Rolling Rock Hunt, where she served as master from 1977 to 1997.
"What people in the riding community in Ligonier remember most about Susie was her patience," said Mr. Stewart. "She loved to teach new riders the fundamentals of horsemanship and to pass on her love for all animals."
In addition to painting and sculpting, Mrs. Todd also operated The Daisy, a specialty gift shop she opened with friends in Ligonier.
Still, Mrs. Todd's passion was art. Much of her work focused on horses and dogs.
Some of her bronze sculptures are held in private collections in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Obituary: Frances Hays Todd / Animal lover, artist, WWII bomb maker