| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Family, friends, and former colleagues are mourning |
|
|
the loss of longtime Arlington school administrator Roy Wood, who |
|
|
passed away on December 4, 2009, at the age of 92; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born in Italy, Texas, on December 26, 1916, Mr. Wood |
|
|
was raised in Ennis; he received a basketball scholarship to North |
|
|
Texas State Teachers College, and he later served in the United |
|
|
States Coast Guard during World War II; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, While in college, Mr. Wood met his future wife, Mary |
|
|
Louise, with whom he would go on to share 65 years; the couple were |
|
|
blessed with two children, Joe Roy and Mary Ann; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Wood began his teaching career in Santa Rosa and |
|
|
subsequently taught with his wife in Azle; they moved to Arlington |
|
|
in 1949, when Mr. Wood became the principal of West Side School, |
|
|
thus beginning his long and accomplished tenure in the local |
|
|
education system; he went on to serve as principal of Berry |
|
|
Elementary before being appointed as business manager for the |
|
|
Arlington Independent School District in 1960; his keen financial |
|
|
sense proved a great asset, and he eventually became assistant |
|
|
superintendent of finance; along the way, he shared his time and |
|
|
energy as president of the Texas Association of School Business |
|
|
Officials, the Arlington Optimist Club, and the Arlington Downtown |
|
|
Rotary Club; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, After nearly 30 years of service to his district, |
|
|
Mr. Wood retired in 1978; the community presented him with a fishing |
|
|
boat as a token of appreciation, and a column in the Arlington |
|
|
Citizen-Journal recognized him for his dedication to the district |
|
|
during a time of tremendous growth; moreover, in 1980, AISD paid |
|
|
tribute to both him and his wife with the opening of Roy and Louise |
|
|
Wood Elementary; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Wood committed himself not only to education but |
|
|
to his faith, serving as a deacon at the First Baptist Church of |
|
|
Arlington and contributing financial resources and expertise to the |
|
|
founders of Mission Arlington; he and his wife relocated to Athens |
|
|
in 1999 and became members of the First Baptist Church there; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Known as a kind and gentle man, Mr. Wood was admired |
|
|
for the birdhouses and nativity scenes he crafted in his spare time; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Roy Wood distinguished himself as an outstanding |
|
|
public servant and a devoted family man, and he touched the lives of |
|
|
not only those who knew him best but countless Arlington students |
|
|
and fellow educators; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Roy Wood and extend |
|
|
deepest sympathy to the members of his family: to his son, Joe Roy |
|
|
Wood, and his wife, Glynda; to his daughter, Mary Ann Wood; to his |
|
|
grandchildren, Matthew and Mark Wood and David Scallan; to his |
|
|
great-grandchildren, Grant, Walker, Zach, and Nate; and to his |
|
|
other relatives and friends; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Roy Wood. |