William Thomas Wood

BILLWOOD, eight letters, the max characters allowed on the NY vanity license plate – it was the 80’s and it was clever and a no need introduction to who was coming your way. Friendly, approachable, and wanting to know your story; but for now, I’ll tell you a little of his.

William Thomas Wood aka BILLWOOD, entered this world on February 27, 1939, in New York, NY to Thomas and Catherine (Donovan) Wood, joining his sister, Barbara, to make their family complete.

He met his wife of 66 years, Lorraine (Roberts) while working as a soda jerk at Bach’s corner store in Flushing. He soon turned in his ’55 Chevy for a station wagon and filled it with four wonderful children: Joan Tarosky (Dennis), Tom Wood (Caroline), Katie Caputo (John), and Laura Gleason (Tom). The family headed East to Westbury Long Island, where Bill and Lorraine lived for 49 years. In 1992, he welcomed his twin granddaughters, Ann Williams and Julie Little, into the world. “A&J” would soon live just five houses down and spend a lot of time with Nana and Pop.

In 2005 another granddaughter arrived, Sydney Gleason, and while not living so close, he would visit Sydney both near and far. Bill was a family man who was loved very much, he welcomed his sister Barbara’s extremely early Saturday morning visits and enjoyed holidays with his in-laws (Mamie and Red Roberts, Madeline and Lou Muller and family).

Friends that Bill met at Niagara University were like brothers. These friends were people that his children would call Uncle and whose families would vacation together on Cape Cod. As the kids got older, vacations were closer to home in Montauk, which was a favorite place to be. He loved the beach and was a strong swimmer, having spent many years in his youth as a lifeguard at Rockaway Beach. Little known fact: he was stung by a Portuguese Man of War swimming in Key Biscayne, FL…. obviously survived!

His natural charisma and interest in engaging others were a perfect fit for his career in sales.

Ten years ago, he moved down South to be closer to family and get out of the cold, most recently living in Charlotte, NC. As in Westbury for so many years, he joined a Friday night card game and met a great group of friends and neighbors. He continued to cheer on the Yankees and the Jets (1 out of two not bad-lol), watched a lot of financial news and was dedicated to sitting down for Jeopardy at 7…. all with Lorraine by his side to The End (8/9/2026).

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11am at St. Matthew Catholic Church, located at 8015 Ballantyne Commons Parkway in Charlotte.