Carole Ruth Wood

Carole Ruth Wood was born September 19th, 1957 in San Antonio. The third child of Ruth and Marvin Heskew, she grew up in San Antonio in the house built by her family in Oakland Estates. She attended school in San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District (NISD), where her mother and father both taught, with her father eventually going on to become a principal. This inspired her to become a lifelong educator and mentor to students, her children and grandchildren and many others.

She attended John Marshall High School, graduating in 1976. She played french horn in the Ram Band all four years where she participated in marching and concert performances. She participated in the band setting a world’s record for a continuous concert, performing 52 hours and 3 minutes in Wonderland Mall. This helped the band participate in the Tournament of Roses parade in 1977 after she graduated.

Following her time in public school, she attended the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) where she earned a degree in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Systems Design alongside a Teaching Certificate. She went on to teach mathematics and computer science at Holmes and Clark High Schools in NISD for nearly ten years.

Carole met Paul Wood while attending college at UTSA. They were married in 1980 in an intimate ceremony held outdoors at her childhood home. They lived in West Lafayette, Indiana while Paul completed his schooling and returned to San Antonio in 1981. In 1985 they had a daughter, Karen and in 1988 a son, Kevin. With the birth of their second child, Carole retired from teaching to focus on her family.

Carole was very active supporting her children throughout their childhood volunteering especially for the PTA, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Band Boosters. When Karen was in Kindergarten Carole became a Girl Scout leader. This ignited a sustained passion for volunteering. Carole led Karen’s Girl Scout troop from first grade until Karen graduated. During this period she became involved in the Service Unit’s annual Twilight Camp. Over the course of almost two decades, she participated in planning, organizing, and running the camp, including serving as camp director for many years.

These volunteer activities ultimately led to her direct involvement with organizing and planning cookie sales for the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, first as a volunteer and later as a seasonal employee. She ultimately was hired full time in the fundraising department where she worked for almost ten years until retiring to again focus on family and help take care of her grandchildren.

In her retirement, an existing passion for sewing, previously expressed in the creation of her children’s halloween costumes (among other projects), expanded into quilting. She joined a quilting bee forging strong friendships and new bonds. She participated in many quilt retreats and shows with the bee that, alongside her grandchildren, brought her much joy in her later years.

Carole leaves behind a legacy of love, compassion, and creativity in the lives she touched and will be dearly missed.

Carole is survived by her husband Paul Wood of 45 years; children, Karen Hartmann and her husband Nicholas; Kevin Wood and his wife Kristina; grandchildren, Sara Hartmann, Katie Hartmann and Jayce Hartmann; sister, Linda Heskew; brother, Edward Heskew.

A visitation for Carole will be held Sunday, March 30, 2025 from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Sunset Northwest Funeral Home, 6321 Bandera Road, San Antonio, TX 78238