Throughout his life as a rambling hobo, a skydiver who feared heights, an anti-war leader in college,
a political operative who helped elect two congressmen, and a world class advertising executive,
Todd was always on a quest for freedom. His soul was driven to create, move, explore and surprise
with the unexpected, and he did nothing timidly. “Anything worth doing,” he would say, “is worth
overdoing.” Some people eat an ice cream cone. Todd ate the whole gallon. “Eat dessert first,
” he advised, “and you’ll always have room for it.”
Todd’s childhood friend, Bill Martin, once asked him why he would leave the comfort and security
of his family and his Lake Minnetonka home every summer for 40 years to live the hobo life, with
no money and no phone, exposing himself to danger, dodging the law and sleeping out in the
elements. He replied, “It’s the freedom I feel.” The more risks he took, and the less he had in his
pack, the more he was free to experience.
While Todd rubbed shoulders with the wealthy, prominent and powerful, the people he probably
respected most for their guts and straightforwardness were hobos. So before hiring account
executives for his agencies – Waters Advertising, Waters & Company and WatersMolitor, Inc. –
he sometimes asked candidates to hit the streets and panhandle. He insisted that the people he
worked with be brave, and know how to close a sale.
Make no mistake – the hobos never viewed Todd as some fly by night, cake eating, Lake Minnetonka
phony. To them, he was a true brother, leader and Railroad Security dodger whose advocacy helped
sustain the annual Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, along with Britt’s famed Hobo Museum and the
Hobo Cemetery. Hobos never retire, but Todd took his last train ride to Britt in 2012 – and got arrested.
On his home writing table, Todd carved a saying: “Look,” said God, “I wanted you the way you are and
no different. You were a wanderer in my name and wherever you went you brought the settled folk a
little homesickness for freedom.”
Todd Waters (AKA Adman) was born in Keokuk, Iowa on October 8, 1947 and caught The Westbound on
July 7, 2017. He graduated from Wayzata High School and St. Cloud State University.
Early in 1976, a freight train hit Todd squarely in the heart when he met young Dori Molitor. He was smitten,
knocked off his feet and totally bewildered by a love that lasted through five years of dating, 16 successful
years as business partners and 37 ridiculously happy years of marriage. Along the way came their daughter,
Alexandra, and son, Andrew, who have made them both incredibly proud.
Todd is also survived by his sisters, Jeanne (Waters) Elizer and Lynn (Waters) Bolyard and five nieces and
nephews. He is joined in death by his father, Vern Waters, and his mother, Winona (Mitchell) Waters.
A celebration of Todd’s remarkable life will be held on Friday, July 14, 2017 at his Lake Minnetonka home
at 3061 Casco Point Road, Wayzata Minnesota 55391. The viewing will be at 10:00 a.m. followed by an
outdoor service at 11:00 a.m. and get together by the lake from noon until 3:00 p.m. Come early for the
best street parking. Those wishing to send memorials should make checks out to “Britt Hobo Days” and
send to Dori. She will forward them as a mark of Todd’s continuing support for his brother hobos.
