Obituary of William Wood

William Wade Wood Mr. Wood died peacefully on January 13, 2011 at home in the company of family. Billy Wade was born in Smithville, TN on December 15, 1920, the eldest son of Jenny Inez and William Elliott Wood. Billy Wade grew up in Nashville, TN, where he was the city?s first Eagle Scout. He graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy and entered Vanderbilt University, where he played on both the golf and basketball teams. In 1940, he transferred to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, joining the Tar Heels? varsity basketball and golf teams and initiating a life long love and support for our State?s great University. While at Carolina, he was an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the Gorgan?s Head Lodge Society. ?WW,? as he was known to friends, was accepted at Duke University Medical School, but after December 7, 1941, and being inspired by Franklin Roosevelt?s declaration of war on Japan which he listened to from a seat in the balcony of the House of Representatives, he asked for and received a deferment to become a Naval Aviator. Lieutenant Wood received his wings at the Pensacola Air Station and began his Naval career patrolling the Atlantic Coast and bombing German submarines before transferring to the Pacific where he was stationed in the Philippines until war?s end in May 1945. Following the war ?WW,? accepted a job with E I DuPont and moved to New York where his penchant for sales and his gift of the social graces manifested themselves. DuPont moved Billy Wade to Charlotte where he met and married the love of his life, Mimi McMillan, on April 20, 1949. WW joined the ?family business?, the John C. Shepherd Lumber Corporation where he had a long and distinguished career. He was elected President of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association in 1972 and awarded the industry?s highest honor, the John J. Mulroney Award, in 2005. Billy Wade was passionate about children?s education, serving on the Board of Trustees of the Charlotte Country Day School from 1957-2011 and as the Chairman from 1973-1979. He was also devoted to Myers Park Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon, elder and superintendent of the Sunday School at various times, and to All Saints Episcopal Church and the Wee Kirk Presbyterian Church in Linville, NC where he worshipped in the summers and to which he lovingly devoted much attention and commitment over his lifetime. Billy Wade?s other passions were the game of golf and fly fishing. He immensely enjoyed these pleasures at the Charlotte Country Club, the Linville Golf Club, Springdale Hall the Kawana Fishing Club. Mr. Wood is survived by his children: Marshall S. Wood and wife, Katherine; Elliott C. Wood and wife, Rebekah; Milly W. Kennedy and husband, Bryan; Ann W. Holladay and husband, Jim; and Wade Wood and wife, Katharine. Billy Wade or ?Green Daddy? also is survived by ten grandchildren: Marshall S. Wood, Jr.; William Ladd Wood; Katherine Anne White Wood; Elizabeth L. Wood; William Wade Wood, II; Robert A. Wood; BK Kennedy, IV, and wife, Mary Lauren; Mimi W. Kennedy; Katie Brooks and Betsy Brooks; and one great grandchild, Elle Kennedy. Mr. Wood is also survived by his sister-in-law, Marjorie B. Wood of Nashville and brother-in-law, the Honorable J. Alex McMillan, III and Caroline of Charleston, South Carolina, along with numerous nieces and nephews and cousins from the Wood, McMillan, Shepherd, Howerton and Bradish families who adored and loved Billy Wade. Billy Wade was predeceased by his precious wife, Mimi McMillan Wood; his infant son, William Wade Wood, Jr.; his parents, Elliott and Inez Wood and his younger brother, James C. Wood. The family will receive friends on Sunday, January 16, 2011 from 5:00-8:00pm at the home of Mr. Wood?s daughter, Milly Kennedy, 3020 Belvedere Ave. Funeral services will be at 11:00 am Monday, January 17, 2011 at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, 2501 Oxford Pl., Charlotte, NC 28207. Burial is private The family extends our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the doctors and nurses who so skilfully and tenderly cared for our father over the last several years, who allowed him to pass from this life ?strong and ably?. Memorials can be made to: Linville Foundation, PO Box 99, Linville, NC 28646-0099, Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, 1420 East Seventh Street, Charlotte, NC 28204, Charlotte Country Day School, 1440 Carmel Road, Charlotte, NC 28226, Myers Park Presbyterian, 2501 Oxford Place, Charlotte, NC 28207.