CVHS Students Honor Late Uncle at Football Game

Friday’s football game versus has deep significance for two Centreville High students, Emily and Alex Dwornik.

Before the game, the Dwornik family will be joining their aunt and cousins in a ceremony honoring their late uncle, Jeff Todd. Todd passed away suddenly in early August, leaving the .

In a fitting acknowledgement of Todd’s impact on the sports programs at Mount Vernon, the athletic field at Melvin Landes Stadium will be named to honor Todd (His eldest daughter Kimberly is a senior at Mount Vernon High School, his daughter Hannah is a 5th grader at Washington Mill Elementary School).

“Jeff was a generous person, who truly reached out to the community,” said Fran Dwornik, Becky Todd’s sister. She’s hoping the Centreville community will participate in the dedication ceremony and pay tribute to Todd, alongside the Mount Vernon community.

The list of Todd’s accomplishments and good works is long. Todd owned the Todd Group restaurants (with three Roy Rogers restaurants in the area) and sponsored Mount Vernon football’s Roy Rogers Bowl every year. He was the announcer at Mount Vernon basketball games and was a key participant in the Mount Vernon Men of Vision and Purpose Program (The MVP Program), supporting at-risk students. He served as the chairman of the and was an active member of the , in addition to many other charitable efforts. 

Mount Vernon parents remember Todd as deeply committed to the football program, including feeding the team before and after games, raising money for new helmets and mentoring boys through his time and his example. 

Todd was going to be the Majors Atheltic Boosters' president this year and his main goal was to raise enough money for a turf field at the high school. In lieu of flowers, the Todd family had asked for donations to the Mount Vernon Athletic Boosters.  After Friday’s ceremony, the football game will be held on the "The Jeffrey M. Todd Memorial Field” at Landes Stadium, which seems like an appropriate first step.

"We hope the Centreville team understands why the field dedication is so special," said Dworkin.