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George William Wood March 16, 1919 – July 17, 2006 Dear Friends,It is with a sad and heavy heart that I must tell you of the passing Dr. George Wood. Mr. George as he fondly called passed away suddenly yesterday afternoon. He was 87 years young. Mr. George along with Charles Corley, Ralph Kinnard, and Ed Girard were the founding fathers of the Alabama Gamefowl Breeders Association, where Mr. George served as President for 25 of the 30 years we have been in existance. Mr. George was the longest running affiliate president in the history of the United Gamefowl Breeders Association. Mr. George was also the nephew of Judge Lacy of the Lacy Roundhead fame. Having inheritated this fine family of roundheads from his unckle, Mr. George continued to breed the Lacy's until yesterday.The family will accept friends and relatives at the Sunset Funeral Home in Tuscaloosa, Al. from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Thursday evening. Burial will take place at 11:00 Friday morning in the Oak Hill Cemetary in Jasper, Al. We have lost one of the great members of our fraternity.Mr. George will be sorely missed. D'Renda Lewis ALGBA Secretary UGBA Director of Administration
Longtime plant enthusiast and UA’s first forester dies
NORTHPORT | About 15 years ago, George Wood’s house burned to the ground. Undaunted, he cleared out a spot on the land next to the house and bought a mobile home.
He didn’t want to leave his plants, his life’s passion.
His search for interesting plant life began as a boy, and as the University of Alabama’s first forester, he roamed the state. In the process, he became a living encyclopedia of Alabama’s trees, shrubs and wildflowers.
On Monday, at age 87, he died, ending his pursuit of growing things. His death, friends said, is the state’s loss.
“He was a remarkable person," said Richard Holland, botanist and president of the University of West Alabama. “He probably knew more about the native plants than anyone I ever dealt with, especially locations."
Hired in 1959, he made a reputation as the source botanists and horticulturists turned to for information. Even after his retirement in 1989, he romped the land with members of the Alabama Wildflower Society, a group he started in 1971.
“Mr. Wood had the run of the university land," said Mary Jo Modica, horticulturist at the UA Arboretum. “He would find a particularly interesting plant and bring them to the arboretum."
It was always a mystery what plant Wood had with him when his truck barreled round the corner to the arboretum’s office, said Modica, who has worked there 27 years.
He began the arboretum’s wildflower garden, bringing in hundreds of species. He also planted trees, many of which are full-grown.
He shared with gardens in Huntsville, Birmingham and Mobile along with private nurseries, she said. In fact, his personal collection of species which grow outside his home on a rural road in north Tuscaloosa County will be donated to the arboretum.
“This person was of statewide importance," Modica said. “He wasn’t just one of our local heroes."
His elementary school principal in Florence planted the love of growing things with frequent nature trips, said Richard Cobb, a friend and current president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Wildflower Society.
He served in World War II, earning Bronze and Silver stars. After the war, he went to Auburn University, graduating with a degree in forestry. He then got his master’s at Duke University.
But Wood was a simple man, those who knew him said. In the Army, he turned down promotions so he could stay a private and remain in combat, Cobb said.
After graduation, he turned down the opportunity to teach, returning to Alabama as a forester for Gulf States. A few years later, the university decided to hire a forester to manage its almost 35,000 acres. Wood took the job.
He kept immaculate files, and Mark Beeler, current UA forester, would still call upon Wood for information.
“I’m building on the foundation that he laid down," he said.
A forester’s job is often done alone, and Wood, who never married, had more time to devote to the job, Beeler said.
He came to campus about 10 a.m., did the necessary office odd jobs, went to lunch and then traveled to the field, said Beeler, who worked briefly with Wood before retirement.
“A lot of the times he was on the property well past the normal quitting time," he said.
He tried to pass what he knew on to those in the Wildflower Society, Cobb said.
“George was a very good ecologist," he said. “He could read the terrain and could tell you what there and what would flourish."
Once on a hike in his later years, when his knees kept him from rougher terrain, he told Cobb to climb a steep ridge to see what grew there. The faithful student, Cobb climbed to find a spot providing a 360-degree view of forests as far as the eye could see, he said.
“He knew what was up there, and he just wanted me to see it," Cobb said.
Personally, he was rugged and a gentlemen, an outdoorsmen in an older sense of the word, Modica said.
“He was a Southern gentlemen – that old fashioned type you read about," she said. “He was so gentle. Whenever he had something to teach you, he always did it with great respect."
He loved people, and could relate to anyone, friends.
Though he dirtied his hands daily, he could rise to any occasion, Cobb said.
“He could go to the board room or to the woods, and he was well-respected in all places," Beeler said.
But, in a way, he lived multiple lives, said longtime friend Joan Rollins.
He was a member of a women’s bridge club, but he kept a messy house. He often slept on his porch, and he raised game cocks.
Inherited from his great uncle, Wood bred the game foul dutifully until his death.
Mark Odom, his neighbor and landlord, said though many people don’t understand cock fighting, Wood was fascinated and proud of his breed.
“He never gambled on it, and he never sold any of them," Odom said. “He was as good a fella as you’ll ever meet."
The game fowl were part of the reason Wood didn’t move after his house burned, Beely said.
“George was so many things," Rollins said. “He’s an enigma. He loved flowers. He loved trees. He loved the woods. He loved people. And fought chickens. We couldn’t figure it out.
“You either loved him and became friends, which most people did, or you stayed away, and not many people did."
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