Margaret Wilson Wood

Margaret Wilson Wood died peacefully on August 2, 2023, at Rosewood Village Greenbrier. Born October 30, 1928 in Clifton Forge, Virginia, she was the daughter of the late Jed Wilson and Mary Margaret Nair Wilson. She was the wife of the late James Burnley Wood, M.D., whom she met at a picnic on the Cowpasture River, and married June 27, 1951.

She attended Stuart Hall School and graduated from Mary Baldwin College, where she majored in music, including study of voice and piano at The Juilliard School in New York. During college, she served as a soloist at the Temple House of Israel in Staunton, and played the piano for services at Western State Hospital. Following graduation, she taught piano at Collegiate School in Richmond.

For many years, she shared her leadership skills and musicianship, singing in the choir at First Presbyterian Church, serving on the board of the University Symphony Orchestra, and participating in the madrigal and piano groups of the Wednesday Music Club. She was a member of the Rivanna Garden Club, and opened her garden for Garden Week, sharing her abundant azaleas, along with gourmet refreshments in her garage. She kept a garden into her eighties, embracing the challenge of finding deer-foiling plants.

She met each phase of her life with faith, enthusiasm, intelligence, and interest in others. Her zest for life was illustrated by her license plate, "GO MW GO", and her embrace of Coach Bennett's pack line defense. When she felt her life on earth was near its end, she declared, "I'm ready to go with a capital G".

Surviving are her children: Lyttelton Waddell Wood II., of Sperryville; Douglas Thornton Wood and his wife, Donna, of Zion Crossroads; and Margaret Wood Ball and her husband, Steven, of Charlottesville; her five grandchildren: Sarah Wood Surratt and her husband, Don; James Daniel Wood and his wife, Natalie; Jennifer Wood Foster and her husband, Jud; Gordon Moultrie Ball and his wife, Palmer; and Charlotte Wilson Ball and her fiancé, Jason Halmo. She is also survived by nine great grandchildren: Will, Sam, and Maggie Surratt; Callie and Carter Wood; Harper, James, and Kite Foster; and Gus Ball. She enjoyed wonderful times with her niece, Elizabeth Wilson Poe and her husband, Joe, of New Orleans; and her nephew, Paul Alexander Wilson and his wife, Holly, of Richmond. It was a great pleasure for her to watch two generations of Morris and Feil family members grow and thrive.

The family wishes to extend heartfelt appreciation to the staff of Rosewood Village Greenbrier for their care and loving support during Mrs. Wood's residence there.

Interment at Maplewood Cemetery will be private. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at First Presbyterian Church, conducted by Rev. Dr. Aram Bae Feinberg, followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church, Music Endowment Fund, 500 Park Street, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Hill and Wood Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.