Stroke, not injuries, claims crash victim

Doris Todd, 87, seemed to be recovering from fractures caused by wreck, her daughter says.

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 16, 2007

TAMPA - In her 87 years, Doris Todd never stopped tending to her look.

A one-time beautician who outlived two husbands and eight siblings, Todd always made a point of fixing her face and putting on earrings before going out - and always before her husband came home.

"She grew up in an era where women used to wear gloves and hats," mused daughter Diane Moore, 58.

Todd died Thursday in a hospital, three weeks after she was injured in a car wreck.

Sheriff's officials say Moore was taking her mother to a doctor's appointment on Oct. 24, when a 1999 Honda, northbound on N Dale Mabry Highway near Handy Road, slammed into the passenger side of her Hyundai.

The impact then pushed the Hyundai into the path of another car, a 2004 Honda.

Moore said her mother seemed to be making progress after suffering several fractures during the wreck. But Todd had a stroke and died days later.

Born in Inverness, Todd spent 50 years in Ocala before moving in with her daughter's family in Lutz three years ago. She had two children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

She never held a grudge, her daughter said. She enjoyed playing gin rummy with her granddaughter and loved singing out in church, even when her failing eyes couldn't immediately find the right hymnal page.

"It was just always a pleasure to sit next to her and hear her voice sing," Moore said.

[Last modified November 16, 2007, 01:15:09]