Roger Holmes Wood

Roger Holmes Wood passed away peacefully on August 5, 2008, from kidney failure after a long struggle with myelodysplasia and leukemia. He had relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to Grants Pass, Oregon, in October 2007, and was residing in a care home, under the assistance of hospice. He was 88 years old.

Born on April 26, 1920 in Corning, New York, he spent his growing years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1944, he received a B.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in English and History. He attended West Point during World War II and then proceeded on to Columbia University, receiving an M.A. in Journalism. He worked briefly as a journalist for Fortune Magazine and the Associated Press in New York City and then moved on to the West Coast for additional graduate studies in Political Science at Stanford University.

In the late 1940s, he worked in the California Central Valley as a radio news writer, daily newspaper editor, and high school Journalism teacher. He settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1947 with his new bride, Phyllis Anderson, to teach high school English and Journalism. He was a Bay Area resident for 60 years.

In 1954, he joined New York Life Insurance Company as an agent, and stayed an active agent with them for over 50 years. During this time, he earned the designations of Chartered Life Underwriter, Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Consultant and Accredited Estate Planner. He was a member of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council, Peninsula Estate Planning Council and the Financial Planning Association. Roger was a college professor of Insurance and Financial Planning at the College of San Mateo, the American College, and Golden Gate University.

He was a believer in life-long learning. In the 1970s and 1980s, he earned a second M.A. from San Francisco State University in Education and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the International College. His dissertation research focused on Self-Esteem from before birth to beyond the retirement years.

In his retirement years, he traveled extensively throughout the world, participating in 54 Elderhostel trips. He also spent countless hours researching his genealogical roots, with the help of the research departments of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. He became a member of more than a dozen heritage and lineage groups including the Plantagenet Society, the Baronial Order of Magna Charta, Society of Colonel Wars, Sons of the American Revolution, Society of Early Quakers, and the First Families of Ohio.

He was an extensive reader and had a library filled with thousands of books. He is credited with authoring three books, When Tankers Collide, Life is a Four Letter Word, and A Forgiving at Assisi. He was in the process of writing his fourth book when he became ill. For more details on his books, visit www.rogerholmeswood.com.

Roger was listed in Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in American Education, Men of Achievement, and 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century.

Roger was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame, California, for over 50 years. He was an ordained Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church and had been a member of the Candidates Committee of the San Francisco Presbytery and a member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Council of Churches.

Roger was laid to rest in Hillcrest Memorial Park in Grants Pass next to his son, Stephen Holmes Wood, who passed away in December 2007. Katherine Stewart, Commissioned Lay Minister of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Grants Pass, officiated at his memorial service.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Phyllis Anderson Wood, of Grants Pass; son and daughter-in-law, David Wood and Sharon DeMills, of Kentfield, California; daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Nelson Maler, of Grants Pass; grandchildren, Sarah and Caleb Maler, of Grants Pass; sister, Julia Strawn Minturn, of Mansfield, Ohio; nephew, Gary Strawn, of Chicago, Illinois; nephews, John Strawn and Lee Strawn, and their spouses and children, of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Condolences for the famiy can be sent to [emailprotected]

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Stephen Ministry c/o Bethany Presbyterian Church, 748 NW 5th Street, Grants Pass, Oregon 97526 541-476-3684