Todd Herreid
Todd Herreid of Denver, Colorado died unexpectedly of heart failure while hiking at Red Rocks on Friday, December 17 th , 2021 at the age of 63. Todd’s infectious humor, kindness, and general goofiness endeared him to so many, and he will be deeply missed.
Todd was born in Rockford, Illinois to Carl and Marianne Herreid and spent most of his childhood in Neenah, Wisconsin. He was a loving son and began honing his craft of good-natured teasing on his younger siblings, Sally and Tim. Todd excelled at sports, playing volleyball and basketball in high school and basketball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he received his bachelor’s degree.
Todd married Mary Murphy (Bessler) in 1980 and completed his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California-Riverside. Todd accepted a job as an assistant professor at the University of Vermont, and daughter Hannah was born in Burlington, in 1989. After divorcing, Todd eventually moved to Seattle, Washington where he worked as an economist for the Department of Transportation. He married Leanne Wilson in 1997 and their daughter Marah was born in Olympia, Washington, in 2000. Todd was committed to having a loving long-distance relationship with Hannah when she lived in Colorado and he moved with Leanne and Marah to Denver, Colorado, in 2001 so they could be together as a family. He worked as an economist from 2001-2017 for the Colorado state legislature, where his former boss described him as a beloved colleague and “nice to absolutely everyone.”
Todd and Leanne enjoyed hiking and biking locally and in Washington and abroad. After learning that sailing his 21-foot sailboat on Lake Dillon in Colorado was not quite adequate preparation for cruising the Greek islands (!), he continued to work hard at advancing his sailing skills, through both study and practice. He was thrilled to purchase “Morpheus,” a 40-foot sailboat that was moored in Blaine, Washington and he pursued sailing with passion during retirement. Todd took great joy in trips by himself and with others, anchoring in the San Juan and Gulf islands, Desolation Sound, and other Pacific Northwest destinations. He also loved cheering for the Green Bay Packers and playing blues piano, taking online lessons and practicing diligently every day.
Above all else, Todd was immensely proud of his amazing daughters and enjoyed spending time with family, playing cards with his parents, siblings, and extended family, and gloating over his victories. He often laughed until he cried when re-telling stories or reading a funny “Deep Thought,” so that what he was saying was incomprehensible--but everyone just laughed anyway.
Todd is survived by his wife, Leanne Wilson; his daughters Hannah Maddern (Kurt) and Marah Herreid; his parents, Carl and Marianne Herreid; his siblings Tim Herreid (Paula Ponto) and Sally Herreid; cat Charlie, and many adoring in-laws and nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Todd’s life will take place on Wednesday, January 19 th at 2:00 at 1525 N. Sherman St. in Denver, Colorado.
To RSVP, please email the names of those attending in person to ToddHerreidCelebrationofLife@gmail.com and you will also receive a link to the Zoom meeting for the service. In addition, all are invited to email memories and stories about Todd to Hannah at hannahmherreid@gmail.com so she and Marah can create a memory book.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to We Don’t Waste (wedontwaste.org) or to Wisconsin Democrats (wisdems.org).
COVID precautions for celebration of life service: Vaccination cards and a booster will be required for everyone’s safety and comfort; masks must be worn during service (no eating or drinking); no guests under age 5.