Ray Todd Vanderpool

Father on December 27, 2023, at home where he wanted to be, surrounded by his wife

and son. Born on August 25, 1956 in Tyler, Texas to the late Ray Leland Vanderpool

and Patricia Ware Vanderpool, he was the youngest of four.

It was at John Marshall High School in San Antonio, Texas where he met his wife, Lee

Ann Ray, at the age of 16. From the moment he met her, he adored her until his last

day here on earth. Tremendously proud to claim Texas A&M University as his alma

mater, he graduated with a BBA in Finance and Economics. Even still in his last days,

Todd managed to catch a few Aggie games on TV during this football season. Todd

received a graduate degree in banking from the Graduate School of Banking of the

South at LSU. He was a skilled business man throughout his career, the youngest man

to lead a bank in Dallas in the mid 1980’s, leading 2 banks through mergers, later going

into distressed institutions and reorganizing them into stable businesses. It was once

said by a Federal Regulator that Todd “had done the impossible” in a bank rescue that

they thought could never be saved. He was loved by many of his employees and

coworkers for whom he cared deeply.

Todd was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of his sins and salvation

with Him for eternity since the age of 6. He loved his wife, family, friends, employees

and country. Todd led his family well in modeling his faith. He was straightforward in

speech and was compelled to speak truth, and through trials and time his heart

softened. His main motivator was love for people and their need for salvation in Jesus

Christ. When Todd received the terminal Glioblastoma diagnosis, he had the gift of

knowing he would soon see his Lord, Jesus, along with the unexpected gift of several

additional years of life. These were gifts because of what he chose to do with them. He

spent his final years sharing the most important thing in his life to anyone who would

listen, or read his emails: the gospel and the hope he had in Christ Jesus. Facing

death enabled him with a boldness that was challenging and inspiring to other believers,

which friend Ron Man urged him to do after the initial diagnosis.

Todd was a long time member of First Evangelical Church, Memphis, and loved his

Sunday School class, Jt. Heirs’. He was on multiple civic and charitable boards, loved

his family, friends, hunting, fishing, motorcycling (to all lower 48 states and Ontario),

bridge, teaching, reading the Bible and his Doberman, Esther.

Todd leaves behind his wife of 44 years, Lee Ann; daughter, Lauren Fitzgerald (Andrew)

and their children, Elizabeth, AJ, Ezra and Grace; son, John (Emily) and their boys,

Weston and Hunter; sister Vici Vanderpool; sister Jan Stark (Bubba); big brother Milton

Vanderpool (Cathy); brother in law Jeff Ray (Cindy); and 7 nieces and nephews.

A memorial service officiated by Dr. Ron Man will be held Sunday, February 4 at First

Evangelical Church at 735 Ridge Lake Blvd, Memphis, TN, 38120. Visitation will begin

at 2:00 PM with the service following at 3:00 PM.

Donations can be made to:

Grace To You (a Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur) at gty.org

First Evangelical Church (Missions) at firstevan.org.