- Date Of Birth: July 2, 1920
- Date Of Death: November 1, 2014
- State: Illinois
Mary Simonds Wood, 94 of Centralia, passed away Saturday, November 1, 2014 at Green Tree Assisted Living in Mt. Vernon. Mrs. Wood was born July 2, 1920 in Jacksonville, daughter of Harris Simonds and Elsie (Young) Simonds. She married Charles Wood as World War II was ending and he preceded her in death. She is survived by two children: Richard Wood and Elisabeth Kalyuzhny; five grandchildren: Emilie Berls, Jeremy Wood, Brendon Wood, and Jessica Flesher as well as several great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her eldest son, Robert Wood. Mary attended Illinois College and the University of Illinois. She taught French at Centralia High School. With her husband, she chaperoned student trips to France and French speaking Canada. Her post graduate research and writing contributed to our knowledge of early French settlements in Illinois and Missouri. She was a member of AAUW, BPW, the DAR, the Centralia Historical Museum, and the Book of the Month Club. She attended the First United Methodist Church in Centralia. Mrs. Wood’s hobbies were reading, bird watching, gardening, bicycling, sailing with her family, and travel. She was fond of the theatre, and all the arts, especially painting. She will be remembered for her bravery as an FBI Special Agent’s wife, her humor, revealed as a penchant for practical jokes, her love of nature and her willing hand. Many will remember seeing Mary on her bicycle, early mornings, when even to her 80’s, she rode 6 miles daily.
