Obituary of Giles Wood

Giles Edward ?Buddy? Wood, Jr., 85, of Forest, passed away Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at Virginia Baptist Hospital after an extended illness. Born on July 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, NY, to Edna Miller and Giles Edward Wood. Buddy graduated from Durham High School in North Carolina, then served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was among several men chosen from 1,500 on his ship to attend Naval Officers Candidate School. He married Mary Frances Bethel on September 6, 1947, and they shared 63 years of marriage. In 1949, he graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in chemistry and then studied at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He worked for more than 20 years at Virginia Credit Union League, where he was Vice-President of Credit Union Services when he retired. He was a devoted crossword puzzler with an ongoing interest in all things naval. He was a former member of the Rotary Club of Lynchburg and was proud of 50 years of perfect attendance. A descendant of Nicholas Cooke, governor of Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War, he as also a member of the Huguenot Society of Virginia. He will be greatly missed by his family and is survived by his wife, Mary Frances, his daughter, Catherine Wood Dietrich, of San Antonio, TX; his sisters, Virginia Hirschi, of Mt. Pleasant, MI and Christine Timmons Black of Norwalk, CT; two nephews, Nicholas Hirschi, of Paris, France and Alexander Hirschi, of Santa Cruz, CA. A memorial service will be held Monday, November 29, 2010 at 2:00 PM at Diuguid Waterlick Chapel with the Rev. Douglas Pillow officiating. The family will receive friends immediately after the service at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Forest Vol. Fire. Dept., P.O. Box 140, Forest, VA 24551 or Campbell County Vol. Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 4123, Lynchburg, VA 24502. Diuguid Funeral Service-Waterlick Chapel, 237-2722, is serving the family.