Todd William Atkinson

Todd William Atkinson lived a life full of adventures, on land and sea. He was full of mischief and always ready to pull a prank on his family and friends. He was born December 16, 1943 in Winchester, Massachusetts to William Robert Atkinson and Dorothy Jackson.

Todd Atkinson while his father served overseas during WWII. He graduated from Newton Conover High School and went on to briefly play football at Lenoir Rhyne College. He then served in the Navy during the Vietnam War as a deep-sea diver. His last commission was on USS Greenlet. He received his associates degree in Marine Technology from Cape Fear Technical Institute. He then worked for the Wrightsville Marine BioMedical lab. This assignment had him living in the Tektite II, an experimental underwater habitat. Part of the objective for NASA was to observe scientists working in isolation for long periods of time for future space programs. A picture of him hand feeding a grouper from the safety of his underwater home was in the August 1971 National Geographic. His next career was inspecting Nuclear Power Plants for Maintenance and repairs. This carried him to Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee which enabled his love of sailing. He would work for 6 months and then sail for 6 months, up and down the east coast. One of his later careers saw him fabricating artificial reefs for saltwater aquariums with Turelove Fabrications. During this time, he met his true love of 20 years, Jodi DeLuca.

This rough, tough sailor had a creative side. He enjoyed woodworking where he made furniture and carved ducks. He decorated unusual bottles and canes with sailor (fancy work) knots and then filled with rum he had aged and flavored with various wood chips. He made an art of smoking and barbequing meats and entertaining family and friends.

Todd was preceded in death by his Parents Bill and Dot Atkinson, his sister Janice Rushin and his sister-in-law Melba Atkinson. He is survived by his partner, Jodi DeLuca of the home, his siblings Chris Jarvis (Dave) of Oak Park, Ill, Alex Atkinson of Hickory, NC, Reggie Atkinson (Loretta) of Newton, NC and Laura Gulledge (Perry) of Jamestown, NC and brother-in-law Jack Rushin of Matthews, NC. He was a Poppa to Nicole Segura (Bruce Lloyd) of Wilmington, NC and Poppa Todd to Jayden, Jackson, Reagan, Saylor, Bruce Lee and Bria.

Todd died December 15, 2024 under Hospice Care after living with Parkinson’s for 14 years. Memorial donations can be made to the

· Parkinson’s Foundation, Parkinson.org

· Lower Cape Fear Life Care (Hospice Care)

· Or a Charity of your choice

A celebration of life will be held in January with his ashes being scattered at sea later in the warmer months.