Margaret Agnes Todd (nee: Sutcliffe)

Decades long Victoria resident and sportswoman, Margaret Todd passed away peacefully July 15, 2019. Born May 31, 1918 in Montreal, Quebec, she moved with her parents, Ernest and Agnes Sutcliffe, and her brother, Douglas, to Victoria in 1927.  She attended Norfolk House, Monterey Elementary and Oak Bay High Schools where, along with her academics, she participated in a number of sports.  After graduation from high school, she attended Victoria College for two years before enrolling in Sprott Shaw Business School. On completing the business program, she worked for Household Finance for several years before marrying J. H. (Jack) Todd in 1942 and moved to Calgary for two years where he was stationed in the army during WW 2.

Margaret became interested in golf at an early age and, apart from her family, it became her lifelong passion, first as a player and later as an administrator. She started playing at age 14 but joined Uplands as a junior as the Victoria Golf Club would not allow junior membership unless one of the parents was a member, at that time. She joined the Victoria Golf Club at age 21 in 1939.

She was 11 time Victoria and District Champion, 3 time BC ladies amateur champion, 2 time BC ladies senior champion and 2 time Canadian ladies senior champion. She was an 8 time member of both the BC inter provincial women’s and senior women’s teams.  She was a player on two Canadian National Teams and was 3 times a non playing captain of the National Team. She was elected national chairperson for both the Rules Committee and the Course Rating Committee for the Canadian Ladies Golf Association before it amalgamated with the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

She wrote the first book on the concept of course rating for the Canadian Ladies Golf Association and led numerous clinics and seminars across Canada on the rating system and the rules of golf.  Both she and her late husband were elected lifetime members of the Victoria Golf Club. For her skills as a player and later as an administrator and leader in women’s golf, she was inducted in to the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Golf Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

A strong believer in giving young people an opportunity to play the game she loved, at a high level, she established a scholarship for the women’s golf program at UVIC. Along with her busy golf schedule, she also found time to volunteer for many years with the Community Chest, which later became the United Way, and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Royal Jubilee Hospital. She also assisted as a weekly swimming guide for almost forty years in a swimming program her late husband offered to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. She continued to be a strong supporter of the UVIC women’s golf program, the BC Golf Museum and numerous other community service organizations.

Above all, she was a terrific mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Along with her late husband, she enjoyed all aspects of the outdoors and their many years association with Sidney Island and Prospect Lake. She was also a fantastic cook and thought nothing of hosting dinner parties for up to thirty or more friends. She was very fortunate to have lived a very long, full, and diverse life.

She was predeceased by her parents, Ernest and Agnes Sutcliffe; her brother, Douglas Sutcliffe and her husband, Jack Todd. She leaves to mourn, her three sons, John (Anita), Rick (Donna) and David (Sonia); six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Lorraine Sutcliffe-Shanahan; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Our family would like to thank her many caregivers, who for the last few years of her life, provided loving care and company and helped our mother maintain her independence in the home she loved and for the past two months, Selkirk Seniors Village.

A Celebration of Life will take place at the Victoria Golf Club on Sunday, September 8, 2019 from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name, to a charity of choice.

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com