Diane D. Todd

Diana Drohan Todd, 88, of Glendale, Ohio, known to all as Diane, died peacefully at her home on July 13, 2026.

Diane was, above all, a nurturing mother of three, a devoted wife to her husband Tom, and a kind presence to everyone who came into her circle. She was also a competitive and determined athlete with an equally sharp eye for a good investment — never one to boast, but she did like to win.

For decades, Diane was a fixture on the tennis courts of greater Cincinnati. She was a standout on the Glendale Lyceum team, where her wins were too numerous to count, and later, one of the tennis coaches who shaped a generation of players at Princeton High School. Well into her later years she could be found on golf courses or paddle tennis courts — still competitive, still keeping score. That same drive showed up after the matches were over: she was a founding member of the MAVIS Investment Club, and she was passionate about the markets — studying them, debating picks, and happily teaching what she knew to friends and family.

She was born on January 1, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Dr. Edward Pierce Drohan and Margaret Rebecca (Ahrens) Drohan— the third baby born in the city that year, an honor that came, by the customs of the day, with a ton of coal delivered to her parents’ door. She was the oldest of three, big sister to Jo Ann “Jody” and Edward “Eddie,” and she took the role seriously for the rest of her life.

The family spent a brief stretch in Texas during her childhood before returning to Finneytown, where she grew up. She went on to the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and joined Delta Delta Delta, forming friendships that lasted the rest of her life. She worked as a nurse before starting her family.

On September 9, 1958, at the age of twenty, she married Thomas U. Todd. The early years of their marriage took them to Coronado, California, where Tom served as a lieutenant in the Navy and where the couple welcomed their eldest, Susan, before they returned home to Cincinnati and eventually settled in Glendale, the village that would become her life’s work. Tom built his practice there as a family physician, and Diane helped coordinate the business side of the office — another place her management sense proved its worth. When Tom served as Mayor, Diane became Glendale’s First Lady — a role she filled by opening her home constantly and making civic life feel like a neighborhood party.

Her contributions to the village ran deep. She researched and presented papers to the Glendale Monday Class, tended Glendale’s beauty through the Glendale Garden Club, and in 2005 served as producer of The Rebels Are Coming, the centerpiece production of Glendale’s sesquicentennial celebration — a role requiring equal parts vision, diplomacy, and the ability to get several hundred neighbors to show up on time.

Beyond Glendale, she was a member of the Junior League of Cincinnati and served as a board member of the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati and of Women Helping Women. She served Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Adolescent Health Center for two decades, joining its board in 1991 and serving as its President from 2001 to 2011, bringing her nursing background to bear on the health of young people who needed an advocate.

As a mother, she was a fixture in the stands and at horse shows, logging thousands of miles for travel hockey and Pony Club and never once suggesting that a 5 a.m. ice time was too much to ask. She was also an intrepid traveler who circled the globe with Tom. In the 1980s she went tenting in Madagascar, visiting her son Michael while he worked for the Duke professor who helped found Ranomafana National Park.

Every summer, the family gathered at Todd’s Point in Neahtawanta, Michigan — a place Diane loved for its water, its tennis, and the weeks it drew her children and grandchildren together under one roof. It remains a tradition the family carries on.

Diane was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-two years, Thomas U. Todd, who died in January 2021; her sister, Jo Ann Charlton; and her daughter-in-law, Ashley Simons Todd. She is survived by her three children, Susan Todd (Andy Young), Andrew Todd (Janet Todd), and Michael Todd (Paula Todd); her seven grandchildren, Abby, Taylor, Chandler, Cameron, Walker, Patrick, and Clara; her great-grandson, Miles; her brother, Dr. Edward P. Drohan (Mary Jo); and her brother-in-law, David A. Charlton.

A memorial service will be held at Christ Church, Glendale, 965 Forest Ave., Glendale, OH 45246 on Saturday, March 20, 2027. In lieu of flowers, the family warmly invites you to make a donation in her memory to one of the causes close to her heart. 

https://diane-todd-memorial.netlify.app/

With gratitude, from the Todd Family.