Donald Charles Hood

Donald Charles Hood, age 81, of Grants Pass, died Monday, December 6, 2010 at his home.

A memorial service will be at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, December 18, 2010 at the Josephine County Fairgrounds Flower Building with Pastor Ron Marsh officiating. A gathering of family and friends will immediately follow. Private interment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Don was born June 6, 1929 in Grants Pass, Oregon to George & Viola Hood. He was raised in Grants Pass and attended Grants Pass High School. As a young man he worked in the hop fields and then worked in heavy construction where he helped in the building of Spalding Mill and Lost Creek Dam. During the 1940s he raced midget cars; during the 1950s he raced hard top stock cars; and from 1965 to 1983 he raced super stock cars. After his many years of racing, he continued to work on cars. On September 7, 1965 in Reno, Nevada he married Patricia Ann Marsh.

His hobbies included riding dirt bikes; quading at the dunes; wheeling in the woods; working on old cars and old tractors; and exploring in the woods, especially finding old cabins, mines, etc.

Survivors include two daughters, Debbie Hood of Myrtle Creek, Oregon and Kelly Howland of Grants Pass, Oregon; two sons, William Hood and David Hood both of Grants Pass, Oregon; two sisters, Margaret Kronebuch of Mesa, Arizona and Ann Waxham of Grants Pass, Oregon; a brother, Burr Hood of Grants Pass, Oregon; 13 grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Hood in 1993 and a granddaughter, Alexa Taylor in 1994.