Paw Paw
From The Sun Herald (South Mississippi):
(http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/10141400.htm)
[Tuesday, 11/9:]
Eugene Gregory Wood
Eugene Gregory Wood died Saturday November 6th after a brief illness.
Mr. Wood, born in Howison, Mississippi on July 4, 1911, was the son of George Price Wood and Mary Alethea Gregory Wood. He was a graduate of Moss Point High School and Perkinston Junior College. For 40 years he owned Wood's Department Store in Moss Point while serving for a period as Mayor and later, alderman for the City of Moss Point. He was Elder Emeritus in the Moss Point Presbyterian Church, a Director at Merchants and Marine Bank, a Mason, and was named Jackson County's Outstanding Citizen of the Year several years ago. He was married on July 1, 1933 to Mary Alice Avera and for over 71 years they have been a very devoted couple with five children, sixteen grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. "With Dad, there was no compromising on morals or principles," according to his son Reverend Larry Wood.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Alice Avera Wood, his five children, Dr. Eugene G. Wood, Jr. of Jackson, Reverend Lawrence A. Wood of Atlanta, Mary Helen Maynor of Birmingham, George C. Wood of Madison, David C. Wood of Nashville and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
[and on Wednesday 11/10:]
Moss Point family man lived and led by example
By ANITA LEE
The children of Eugene Gregory Wood are following the example he set for them.
Wood stressed honesty, faith and public service. He tried to live as he believed. The 93-year-old died Saturday after a brief illness and will be buried Thursday in Moss Point.
He was married for 71 years to Mary Alice Avera Wood. They raised five children, all of whom attended college.
Wood was a devout Presbyterian whose great-grandfather and grandfather served as ministers. He, too, felt called to the ministry, but his family lacked the money for eight years of higher education.
Instead, he attended Perkinston Junior College after graduation from Moss Point High School. His first job was working as a soda jerk at Burman's Drugstore for $15 a week. A local businessman soon took Wood under his wing and helped him finance his own business, a clothing store he opened in the 1930s.
Wood's Department Store was located on Main Street next to the drugstore. Wood eventually retired from the business.
His great-uncle, Charles Wood, was the first mayor of Moss Point. His father, George Price Wood, served as mayor for 17 years before he died in office. Gregory Wood finished his father's term, then was elected to the Board of Aldermen.
His oldest son, Jackson physician Eugene G. "Gene" Wood, remembers a pipe salesman coming into the department store one day. His father said the salesman had offered a kickback in exchange for city business, enough money to put young Gene Wood through medical school.
"Of course, Dad refused," Gene Wood said. "There was no question.
"Daddy was a very honest, Christian person. He was uncompromising in his values."
"That was the way he lived his whole life. He had four boys and a daughter and he taught us all that. He was just a very good man."
One of Wood's sons, Lawrence A. "Larry" Wood, pursued the vocation his father had wanted to follow, but his father never mentioned this until Larry Wood had graduated from college and was headed to seminary.
His father then said he had always prayed someone would take his place in the ministry and that his prayers had been answered. He taught his children to be responsible for their lives and their decisions, stressing that they should follow where God led.
The Rev. Larry Wood remembers his father as a quiet man, not one, for example, to interfere with coaches while his sons played ball, or to trumpet his civic work.
Gregory Wood was once named Jackson County's Outstanding Citizen of the Year, served on the board of directors at Merchants and Marine Bank, was a Mason and an elder emeritus in the Moss Point Presbyterian Church.
"He took good care, not only of his family, but of many people of all races behind the scenes," said the Rev. Wood, who lives outside Atlanta. "He didn't want anyone much to know about it. I think those of us who have gone on to be influential in our own communities followed his lead."
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 this evening at Holder-Wells Funeral Home in Moss Point, with a memorial service at 10 a.m. Thursday at Moss Point Presbyterian Church.
(http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/10141400.htm)
[Tuesday, 11/9:]
Eugene Gregory Wood
Eugene Gregory Wood died Saturday November 6th after a brief illness.
Mr. Wood, born in Howison, Mississippi on July 4, 1911, was the son of George Price Wood and Mary Alethea Gregory Wood. He was a graduate of Moss Point High School and Perkinston Junior College. For 40 years he owned Wood's Department Store in Moss Point while serving for a period as Mayor and later, alderman for the City of Moss Point. He was Elder Emeritus in the Moss Point Presbyterian Church, a Director at Merchants and Marine Bank, a Mason, and was named Jackson County's Outstanding Citizen of the Year several years ago. He was married on July 1, 1933 to Mary Alice Avera and for over 71 years they have been a very devoted couple with five children, sixteen grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. "With Dad, there was no compromising on morals or principles," according to his son Reverend Larry Wood.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Alice Avera Wood, his five children, Dr. Eugene G. Wood, Jr. of Jackson, Reverend Lawrence A. Wood of Atlanta, Mary Helen Maynor of Birmingham, George C. Wood of Madison, David C. Wood of Nashville and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
[and on Wednesday 11/10:]
Moss Point family man lived and led by example
By ANITA LEE
The children of Eugene Gregory Wood are following the example he set for them.
Wood stressed honesty, faith and public service. He tried to live as he believed. The 93-year-old died Saturday after a brief illness and will be buried Thursday in Moss Point.
He was married for 71 years to Mary Alice Avera Wood. They raised five children, all of whom attended college.
Wood was a devout Presbyterian whose great-grandfather and grandfather served as ministers. He, too, felt called to the ministry, but his family lacked the money for eight years of higher education.
Instead, he attended Perkinston Junior College after graduation from Moss Point High School. His first job was working as a soda jerk at Burman's Drugstore for $15 a week. A local businessman soon took Wood under his wing and helped him finance his own business, a clothing store he opened in the 1930s.
Wood's Department Store was located on Main Street next to the drugstore. Wood eventually retired from the business.
His great-uncle, Charles Wood, was the first mayor of Moss Point. His father, George Price Wood, served as mayor for 17 years before he died in office. Gregory Wood finished his father's term, then was elected to the Board of Aldermen.
His oldest son, Jackson physician Eugene G. "Gene" Wood, remembers a pipe salesman coming into the department store one day. His father said the salesman had offered a kickback in exchange for city business, enough money to put young Gene Wood through medical school.
"Of course, Dad refused," Gene Wood said. "There was no question.
"Daddy was a very honest, Christian person. He was uncompromising in his values."
"That was the way he lived his whole life. He had four boys and a daughter and he taught us all that. He was just a very good man."
One of Wood's sons, Lawrence A. "Larry" Wood, pursued the vocation his father had wanted to follow, but his father never mentioned this until Larry Wood had graduated from college and was headed to seminary.
His father then said he had always prayed someone would take his place in the ministry and that his prayers had been answered. He taught his children to be responsible for their lives and their decisions, stressing that they should follow where God led.
The Rev. Larry Wood remembers his father as a quiet man, not one, for example, to interfere with coaches while his sons played ball, or to trumpet his civic work.
Gregory Wood was once named Jackson County's Outstanding Citizen of the Year, served on the board of directors at Merchants and Marine Bank, was a Mason and an elder emeritus in the Moss Point Presbyterian Church.
"He took good care, not only of his family, but of many people of all races behind the scenes," said the Rev. Wood, who lives outside Atlanta. "He didn't want anyone much to know about it. I think those of us who have gone on to be influential in our own communities followed his lead."
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 this evening at Holder-Wells Funeral Home in Moss Point, with a memorial service at 10 a.m. Thursday at Moss Point Presbyterian Church.
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