John Wood

1932 - 2012

John Robert Wood

ATHENAS, COSTA RICA - John Robert Wood, 80 years old, passed away Monday July 9th in Atenas, Costa Rica.

John was born April 17th, 1932 in the Bronx NY. He was a life-long Yankee fan and spent most of his youth hanging out at the stadium, usually ending up in the bleachers trying to get as close as he could to his idol, Joe DiMaggio (and later Mickey Mantle). He lived with his parents and brother in a one bedroom apartment on Webb Avenue in the Bronx for many years.

He served in the US Army from 1952 until he was discharged in 1955. A short time later John married Norma Sanger (now Norma Kaiser) in Canaan, CT.

After marrying, he attended Manhattan College and New York University while working as a mechanic for TWA, frequently working during the day and attending school at night, finally earning a degree in Industrial Engineering.

John then worked at Teleregister Corporation until finally starting work at IBM in the mid-sixties, moving to Poughkeepsie, NY and working for the company for over 28 years. He was a technical writer, writing the two volumes of the IBM Dictionary of Computer Terms for the company which were eventually published, and serving as the company's Publication Standards chair which allowed him frequent travel for the company which he enjoyed immensely.

He remarried around 1977 to Sirkka Annell and they were married for almost 19 years, divorcing in 1995.

He then lived in North Carolina and finally Jacksonville, FL before visiting Costa Rica and developing a life-long love for the country, and lived there happily until his recent death. While in Costa Rica he wrote and published a popular travel book for Costa Rica, entitled "Costa Rica by Bus'. His son plans on updating the book periodically, keeping it current, in his father's memory.

John leaves behind his first wife, Norma Kaiser; his second wife, Sirkka Annell Wood of Atenas, Costa Rica; Tiina (Sirkka's daughter from a previous marriage); a son, Christopher Wood; a daughter, Cynthia Livengood and her husband Larry Livengood, both of Cape Coral, FL and grandchildren Monica, Mark and Meredith Livengood.

Services were private.

He will be missed by all who knew him.