George Wesley Wood

With mournful hearts, the family of George W. Wood announce his passing at the age of 84 which occurred unexpectedly on November 9, 2018. He passed away at home in Georgia with his daughters by his side. George Wood was born on August 2, 1934 in Perryville, Missouri. He always described his childhood as happy and was grateful that his parents made sure that he, his brother and two sisters never went without. At 13 years old, he began his first job at Ewald’s BBQ in Perryville. This job marked the beginning of a dedicated life of working which lasted 65 years before his full retirement at the age of 78. In fact, his unparalleled work ethic is one of the many things everyone in his life will remember most about him. After graduating St. Vincent High School in Perryville, he attended the University of Missouri in Columbia. While in college he enrolled in the Army ROTC program. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry in 1957 and being commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Field Artillery, he entered on active duty. George Wood served on active duty for 20 years in numerous command and staff assignments, and one could say he had an illustrious military career. During his service he was deployed to South Korea in 1960 and flew in helicopters over the Demilitarized Zone. In 1967 he was commissioned as a Major in the U.S. Army and in 1968 he was deployed to Vietnam. In Vietnam he served in the Military Assistance Command to Vietnam as advisor to the United States Command and General Staff College. In addition to his tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam, he also served several tours of duty in the United States and in Germany. His awards include the Bronze Star Meal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Armed Forces Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal. In 1964, while stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan he met the love of his life, Diane Ferguson while playing Bingo at the Officer’s Club. They married immediately after meeting and remained married for 37 years until her unfortunate passing in 2001. Before starting a family, George and Diane had the opportunity to live all over the United States and spent many years living overseas. Soon after his retirement from the Army in 1977, they chose to settle in Alexandria, Virginia and decided to call it home and the place where they would raise their girls. George was a devoted husband and father who cared deeply about his wife and daughters. Once he retired from the Army in 1977, he went back to college and obtained a degree in Real Estate and spent nearly 20 years as a Real Estate Agent, Broker and Manager. After a successful Real Estate career, he went into the Mortgage Lending business and worked a Mortgage Consultant. From there he went on to be a Site Supervisor in the residential construction business for over a decade before going into partial retirement. In 2012 he FINALLY retired! During retirement he moved to Georgia to be closer to family and became a volunteer with the Gwinnett County Veteran’s Memorial Museum in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He also enjoyed a rekindled interest in some of his favorite hobbies - deer hunting, fishing, golfing, gardening, and driving ALL over the country to see family and friends. George Wood will lovingly be remembered by family and friends as having a relentless fighting spirit and immeasurable strength, will power and determination. He will also be remembered for being an incredibly unique man who lived a very eventful life and loved to have fun. He was often described as possessing a calming presence, being charming, caring, loving, patient, optimistic, hard-working, generous, and most of all as having a larger than life sense of humor; he was absolutely hilarious! All who had the privilege to know him would agree that he never met or knew a stranger! He will be missed beyond what words can convey. George Wood is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Diane Wood; brother, Al Wood; parents, Perry and Alma Wood. Survived in death by daughters, Catherine Wood (husband-John Butler), Megan Wood, and Kim Doherty (husband – Steve); sisters, Rhonda Buchheit (husband –Kenny) and Sue Moegle; grandson Jonathan Allen (wife – Aimee) and great-grandson, James Allen and granddaughter, Christina Allen. A visitation will be on Monday March 11, 2019 from 12:00 - 200pm and 5:00 - 7:00pm. A Funeral Mass will be offered at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 @ 10:45am with interment following at Arlington National Cemetery. The family kindly asks that in lieu of flowers please send donations to: Disabled American Vets www.dav.org *Go to donations and select memorial donations Chattahoochee Riverkeeper https://chattahoochee.org *Go donations and select memorial donations