Todd & Julie Jarvis

As a boy, Todd Jarvis occasionally dreamed of stepping to the plate in his Texas A&M uniform and blasting a key home run for the Aggies. From his childhood home in Aledo (a community of about 2,000 residents approximately 20 miles southwest of downtown Fort Worth), Jarvis even visualized specific situations, imagining the pitch count and other details in his mind.

          Unfortunately for Jarvis, those boyhood dreams never became a reality. He says he didn’t take his schoolwork seriously enough in high school, and he wound up playing one year of junior college baseball before injuries ended his playing career for good in the early 1980s.

          Nearly 30 years later, though, Jarvis finally had the opportunity to step up to the plate for Texas A&M. He produced in a way that won’t soon be forgotten in Aggieland. Figuratively speaking, of course.

          Jarvis and his wife, Julie, recently made a six-figure gift toward the completion of the 12th Man Foundation’s $16 million fundraising project that is dedicated toward renovating and rejuvenating Olsen Field. Thanks to generous gifts from donors like Todd and Julie Jarvis, the 12th Man Foundation had received almost $10.4 million in gifts and pledges by Jan. 31, 2010.

Throughout 2009, the Olsen Field committee, led by co-chairs Jerry Cox and Steve Morris, has held gatherings across the state to inform potential donors about the pressing needs facing Aggie baseball. Since its construction in 1978, little has been done to improve Olsen Field. Meanwhile, in the last 10 years, schools like Texas, LSU, Baylor, TCU, Rice, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and many others in the region have either built new stadiums or have significantly upgraded existing facilities.

Todd Jarvis attended one of those Olsen Field committee gatherings in ’09 at the home of Bill and Robbie Moore in Dallas. At that event, he met A&M head coach Rob Childress and listened to the 12th Man Foundation’s “payoff pitch.” Ultimately, he decided he was finally at a point in his life where he could fulfill a childhood dream by making a big impact for Aggie baseball.

“My original dream was to go down to College Station and play for (former A&M head coach Tom) Chandler, but things just didn’t materialize,” said Jarvis, the president and CEO of J5 Wildlife Management. “I ended up going to Ranger Junior College instead because during my junior and senior years in high school, I did not take school seriously enough. My grades suffered.

          “I was an All-State shortstop at Aledo, and I went to Ranger for one year. I had hamstring and shoulder problems, so I had to give it up. But I’ve always loved A&M and all Aggie sports. Because of my background, I’ve always had an affinity for Aggie baseball, and I met Coach Childress in Dallas at Bill and Robbie Moore’s house. I got to talk with him at length, and he really impressed me as a down-to-earth guy. He is a player’s coach. I was really impressed with him and the project. That meeting definitely planted a seed in my mind.”

          Toward the end of the 2009 calendar year, that seed turned into a major gift. It was not the first time that the Jarvis family made a capital gift toward Texas A&M athletics. Todd and Julie also have made a six-figure donation toward the football program.

          Jarvis says his passion for A&M traces back to his father, who once attended Allen Military Academy in Bryan (now Allen Academy College Preparatory School). Because of the school’s proximity to College Station, Jarvis’ father took a liking to A&M and its military heritage.

          He later shared some of his knowledge of A&M with his young son.

“My dad and I were watching an A&M football game one day, and I can’t even remember who the Aggies were playing,” Jarvis recalled. “But A&M scored, and the cameras showed the crowd and the cadets were kissing their dates. I was about 6 or 7 and I asked, ‘Dad what are they doing?’ His time at Bryan Military Academy had made him familiar with A&M and he told me that when the Aggies scored on the field, they scored in the stands.

“I kind of liked that idea. I grew up around the military, and when I first saw the Aggie Band, I thought they were soldiers. My dad explained that was not necessarily the case, but I was impressed with the band, the traditions and so much about the school. From that moment on, my love for A&M kind of snowballed.”

After leaving Ranger Junior College in the early 1980s, Jarvis first took a job working for a private contractor that made military testing equipment in the Fort Worth area. He worked in that role until he decided to return to college in 1994. By that time, he was married with two children and living on a ranch in Aledo, so commuting to A&M was not a possibility.

He instead went to TCU, where he eventually earned a general studies degree with an emphasis in ranch management and child education. He graduated from TCU in 2001—the same year the Aggies defeated the Horned Frogs in the galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

“I took a full load while trying to balance being a husband, father and coach for my son’s teams in football and baseball,” said Jarvis, who went to work in the oil and gas and land development industries after going to TCU. “It was tough to balance things out, but it all worked out in the long run.

“I would say that TCU is my No. 2 team, but they are a distant No. 2. When TCU and A&M played in the bowl game, I was on campus. I got to hear all the TCU football players chatter about how they were going to beat us. I was saying, ‘No way,’ to myself, as I bit my lip in the library and other places. It’s impressive to see what TCU has done since that time, but I can never get too involved with TCU. My passions are with A&M.

“We have had A&M season tickets since about ’91 or ’92,” Jarvis continued. “The only TCU games I really, really wanted to see were in the Southwest Conference days when A&M would come to Fort Worth to play. I was a freshman in high school when I went to my first A&M-TCU game, and I was so impressed with the Aggie fans even back then. I’ve been pretty fanatical every since. My kids all knew the War Hymn at a very young age.”

Todd and Julie Jarvis have three children—22-year-old son Stephen, 19-year-old daughter Jacqueline and 13-year-old daughter Erin. Their oldest two children currently live and work out of state, but Erin is working toward eventually coming to Texas A&M.

But even if their children never attend A&M, Jarvis believe they will probably be Aggie fans for life. Just like their dad.

“Even though I do not have an Aggie ring, I love the traditions and camaraderie of Texas A&M, and I have shared that with my kids,” Jarvis said. “I have been fortunate through the years in that I have been able to attend Kickoff Camps at A&M and have gotten to know some of the alums and boosters. They have welcomed me with open arms even though I don’t have a degree from A&M or have that Aggie ring.

“Since I didn’t attend A&M, I felt like this (giving to the capital campaign) was the least I could do for something I really hold close to my heart and I really love. It has been a lot of fun for the kids to go down on game days to see the band and hear the student section. My youngest daughter has hopes of going to A&M. She is our little academic stud, and she is interested in animals. As an eighth-grader, A&M is her top choice right now. She has had some persuasion from dad, of course. I told her that if she goes to A&M, she can come visit us every game day at our tailgate party. But even if she changes her mind, mom and dad will still be back in Aggieland doing what we can to support the Aggies.”