Visitation will be held at Oak Lawn Funeral Home on Tuesday August 4th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday August 5, 2020 at Oak Lawn Funeral Home at 12:00 pm and Commander Wood will be laid to rest at Barrancas National Cemetery.
Our Father was born on November 22, 1934 in Wrayswood, Georgia to Jack and Lula Wood, and was the eighth of 10 children born into his family. He attended and graduated from Union Point High School, Union Point, Ga. That same year he enlisted in the US Navy in July of 1953 expecting to serve for a few years and see the world. In 1957 he met and fell in love with his beloved Patricia (Brown) Wood. They married in 1958 and had three children Bruce (Nina) Wood, Robert Wood and Beverly (David) Nichols. Their marriage lasted 53 years until Patricia preceded him in death in 2011. He is survived by two sisters, Velma Bauman and Sue Welch; six grandchildren, Josh (Terri) Nichols, Justin (Jennifer) Nichols, Jessica (Kayci) Wood, Jenni (Sandra) Wood, Christopher Wood and Taylor Nichols; five great-grandchildren, Elora, Finley, Milo, Emily and Bruce.
His family was his greatest joy but, Gene was most proud to serve his country as a member of the United States Navy for 35 yrs.; rising from seaman recruit to retiring in 1988 as a full Commander. He had many duty stations and spent time in Naples, Italy, Yokosuka, Japan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Many lifelong friends were made along the way.
He was a Lifetime member of the Warrington Elks Lodge, American Legion and Am Vets. He was proud of his dedication to these organizations and all of the work they did to help the community we live in.
Pallbearers will be Christopher Wood, Josh Nichols, Taylor Nichols, Dennis Whitworth, James Holt and Charles Decker.
The family of Commander Wood wishes to extend our sincere thanks to staff at The Blake assisted living facility and Covenant Hospice who provided love and tenderness to our father at the end of his journey. We would also say a special thank you to Patricia Prendergast, her love, care, compassion and loyalty to our father throughout their relationship is to be admired, and she will always be a special person to our family.
In lieu of flowers we would ask for donations to be made to Covenant Hospice www.choosecovenant.org.
