Richard Wood

Bluefield, WV- Richard Johnston Wood, 96, of Bluefield, West Virginia, died at home Sunday, November 14, 2010 after a brief illness. Known to his friends as Dick, he was a Bluefield businessman. He was born in Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia, on November 30, 1914, the son of Dr. Amos DeRussia Wood, an eye doctor in Bluefield, WV, and Annie Johnston Wood, daughter of Judge David Emmons Johnston. He attended local Bluefield schools and received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1938 from Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Alabama (now Auburn University). He returned to Bluefield and worked for the Appalachian Power Company. He was drafted by United States Army as a private in 1941. Due to his electrical background and reserve officer training, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and sent to the Royal Military College of Science at Bury, Lancashire, England. There, he studied British radar and the British radar air warning system that had been successful in England. After leaving the Military College, he was assigned as a military radar siting officer and was responsible for siting and establishing Allied radar in northern Canada, New Guinea, and the Philippine Islands. He made two military landings with the 85th fighter wing, 5th Air Force, Army Air Corps: one, at Leyte Island, and a second, at Mindoro Island, both in the Philippines. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Major. On June 14, 1947, he married Mary Elizabeth Pritchett of Bluefield, Virginia, the daughter of Charles Edward and Mary Agnes Wood Pritchett. Charles Pritchett's family was from Chatham, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Mary Agnes Wood's family was of English-German descent from Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. After the War he rejoined the Appalachian Power Company, where he remained until 1960. He served as Assistant District Manager for both the Welch and Bluefield districts during his years with APCO. In 1960, he co-founded Pemco Corporation in Bluefield, Virginia, and served as its president until he retired in 1984. The company began by designing a silicon power rectifier that made it possible for small coal operators to mine out-crop coal in abandoned mines and is still in business today. The Rotary Club was important to him; he first joined Rotary in 1952 while he was working for APCO in Welch, WV and later joined the Bluefield Club after transferring here in 1957. He served as a Director in both the Welch and Bluefield Clubs, as District Governor in 1993-94. He was a registered Engineer, a member and past President and past State Director of the Southeast Chapter of the West Virginia Society of Professional Engineers, and was Engineer of the Year in 1969. He also served on the Bluefield State College Advisory Committee, the Bluefield College Board of Trustees, the First National (First Century) Bank Board of Directors, the McDowell County United Appeal, and the Bluefield United Fund. He was the President of the Bluefield Country Club, the Fincastle Country Club, the Pocahontas Electrical and Mechanical Institute and the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce. He also was the Commander of the Riley-Vest Post of the American Legion, and he was an Elder at Fi rst Presbyterian Church in Bluefield, West Virginia. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Diana Pearis Wood Gester and Thomas Eastwood Gester of Birmingham, Alabama; son and daughter-in-law, David Johnston Wood and Jennifer Purefoy Wood of Goochland, Virginia; son and daughter-in-law, Hugh Chapman Wood and Anne Motz Wood of Atlanta, Georgia; grandchildren, Will Gester of Portland, Oregon; Tyler Gester of Birmingham, Alabama; Sarah Wood of Auburn, Alabama; Catherine Anne Wood of Atlanta, Georgia, and Parker Wood of Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Wood was preceded in death in 2006 by his beloved wife, Elizabeth Pritchett Wood. Funeral services will be held, Monday, November 22, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Bluefield, West Virginia with Dr. W. D. Hasty, Jr., officiating. Graveside service will follow at Roselawn Memorial Gardens, Princeton, WV. The family will receive friends at the Mercer Funeral Home from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, November 21, 2010. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to First Presbyterian Church, 208 Tazewell St., Bluefield, West Virginia 24701. Those wishing to share memories or condolence messages with the family may do so by visiting www.MercerFuneralHome.com Mercer Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family of Richard Johnston Wood.

Richard Wood

November 30, 1914 - November 14, 2010