Linda Templeton Wood

Linda Templeton Wood went on to be with the Lord on January 6, 2025. Linda was kind, generous and loving. She often exhibited a great deal of empathy for others when it came to making sure no one went hungry. Whether it was a friend down on their luck, or who was not well, you can bet they were on her mind and heart.

Linda was born on June 1, 1950, in Jasper, TN to the late Alvie Eugene Templeton and Lillian Odell Keith. Her highest attained education was her high school diploma from East Forsyth High School in Kernersville where she graduated in 1969. Upon her graduation she immediately began working for Integon in Winston-Salem. Linda eventually became an Underwriter for the company and continued to work for the company all the way through to retirement, even when the company had been purchased numerous times throughout the years. Linda always wanted to seek higher education from a college or university but found it difficult to gain the resources to do so. In her youth, Linda was athletic and played on softball teams, bowling teams and went ice skating while on her lunch breaks from work. While working for Integon, she decided to join the bowling team for the company. This is where she would eventually meet the love of her life, Fred, who would one day fill in for his friend who was too sick to compete against Linda’s team. The day came they would cross paths and sparks flew. Eventually the two would marry on November 21, 1981. They bought a home in Clemmons where they would eventually welcome and raise their two daughters, Kimberly and Kelly.

When Linda’s girls were small, Linda would teach an elementary Sunday School class with Mrs. Sheila Binkley. She was also on the rotation and served as a teacher for Children’s Church. Linda sang soprano along with her daughters Kim and Kelly in the Olivet Church Choir for many years. Linda was a member of Eastern Star, Old Town Chapter #355 and served as Worthy Matron of the chapter and District Deputy Grand Matron over the 16th District. When her daughters were active Rainbow girls, she would serve on the Winston-Salem Assembly #37 Advisory Board with her late husband, Fred. Linda would always be there to encourage her husband and daughters in whatever activities they were involved with and gave her daughters plenty of room to express their interest in different things like piano, singing, dance, and the arts.

After the passing of her husband, Linda was blessed with the joy of knowing that she was going to be a grandmother. Her grandson, Colden, easily became her favorite person. Linda babysat her grandson all the way up to the day she was hospitalized. He was the light and joy of Grammy’s life.

Linda is preceded in death by her late husband Fred Wood, and her elder brother Tommy Templeton. Linda leaves behind her loving daughters Kimberly Nicole Wood of Clemmons and Kelly Wood (Cameron) Potts of Pfafftown; grandson, Colden Potts; her younger brother David Templeton (Fern) of Morristown, TN, and niece Tammie Hart (Boyd) of Kernersville, NC.

A few days before Linda’s passing, she had suffered from symptoms of a possible stroke that led to a massive brain bleed. In a panic, her daughters had her placed on a respirator to keep her alive against their mother’s wishes. The following day, an organ donation organization, called HonorBridge, approached Linda’s daughters about her being a registered organ donor and that she could potentially save three people, along with skin grafts that could save countless others. Finding out their mother was a registered organ donor; they knew there was only one course of action. They decided to honor their mother’s final wish of becoming an organ donor. This provided time for her daughters to spend more time with her so they could say goodbye and give her what is called an Honor Walk and Moment of Honor for her incredible gift of life. In the OR, her daughters sang her to Heaven while she passed. It was confirmed that both Linda’s kidneys and liver will go to three new homes along with skin grafts that could potentially save an additional 75 persons, according to donatelife.net.

The family of Linda Wood would like to thank the ICU staff and doctors of the Novant Health Forsyth Memorial Hospital and the HonorBridge Organization for their professionalism and care of their loved one, Linda, and for making it possible to allow loved ones the opportunity to be heroes.

A visitation will be held on Saturday, January 11th from 3-5pm at Frank Vogler & Sons, 2849 Middlebrook Drive in Clemmons. The Celebration of Life Service will be held on Sunday, January 12th at 2pm at Olivet Moravian Church, 2205 Olivet Church Rd in Winston-Salem.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to honorbridge.org, donatelife.net or your local food bank. But the greatest contribution one could make to honor Linda is to become a registered organ donor.

Moment of Honor

Linda’s last words her family would hear her speak were the words, “I love you.” There was no thought in their minds that those words would be the last they would ever hear from her. As we all know, God has a bigger plan that we are not privileged to see until it has unfolded before our eyes, as faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And Matthew 22:37-39 says, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Linda, always the quiet type, never minded fading into the background, particularly when it was in support of her husband or her daughters in whatever endeavor they were involved with. She watched and supported with love and faith. Throughout her life, Linda always said, “I never want to see anyone go hungry.” So, she always made sure no one ever went hungry if there was something she could do to help. Today, through her love and courage, Linda is saving the lives of total strangers.

In another language, Linda means beautiful. How fitting, that her name and legacy be transformed into something tangible, and her sacrifice etched into eternity as something beautiful. It seems to us that part of God’s plan for Linda is to save others in the midst of their tragedies, despite our own. With God’s help, Linda is bringing beautiful rainbows to strangers’ storms and is now shining as bright as the stars.