Helen Foster Wood

January 23, 1920 – October 14, 2011

Helen Foster Wood, a resident of The Carriage Club of Charlotte, NC, died Friday afternoon, October 14, 2011, at Mercy Hospital, of complications from congestive heart failure. A loving wife, dedicated mother and a triple-proud grandmother, she was 91 and was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Marion Eugene (Gene) Wood, Jr., in 2009.

Mrs. Wood was born in Fort Gaines, GA on January 23, 1920, the only child of the late Lonnice Alexander Foster and Louise Coile Foster, and grew up on the farm that has been part of her family for more than 150 years. As a youth she was an accomplished equestrienne with a great love of the beautiful horses still remembered fondly by her cousins. She graduated in 1941 from Georgia State College for Women (now Georgia College & State University) in Milledgeville, GA with a Bachelor of Science in Music. She taught piano at Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University) in Boone, NC from 1942 to 1945, and later taught at South Georgia College in Douglas, GA.

Mrs. Wood and her husband spent much of their adult lives in Virginia where they eventually settled in Roanoke and were longtime members of First Baptist Church in that city. A love of gardening and the outdoors that developed during her childhood in rural southwest Georgia carried throughout her life, and her yard on Winding Way Road was periodically featured in local magazines and newspapers as well as on television. The Woods relocated to Charlotte in 2007 to be closer to their son’s family, including their triplet grandchildren.

Mrs. Wood is survived by her son, Marion Eugene Wood III and his wife, Allison, of Charlotte; grandchildren Katharine Eleanor Wood, Mary Amelia Wood and Charles Alexander Wood, all of Charlotte; and cousins William Fredrick Foster of Blakely, GA; Martha Setzer Payne of Chattanooga, TN; Betty Foster Cozart of Columbia, SC; and Mary Eva Rowley of Tennille, GA.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Harry & Bryant Funeral Home in Charlotte and Manry-Jordan-Hodges Funeral home in Blakely, GA. Mrs. Wood will be interred on Thursday, October 20, 2011 in New Park Cemetery in Fort Gaines, GA, following a 2:00 p.m. graveside service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, Help for Disabled Veterans or Georgia College & State University.