Wistar Wood

1930 - 2022

February 8, 1930 - March 11, 2022 Wistar Wood Longtime Local Educator Beloved South Bay teacher and hypnotherapist, Morris Wistar Wood, Jr., died Friday, March 11, 2022, at his home in Torrance, California, surrounded by four generations of family. Born in Philadelphia in 1930 and educated at Harvard University, Wistar started in sales with United Steel and ALCOA before becoming a science teacher at Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, NY in about 1960. He moved to Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1968 with his wife, Bertie Burr Dawes Wood, and four children to live and teach high school science and environmental studies at Chadwick School. Upon retiring from Chadwick in 1983, Mr. Wood pursued his passion for hypnotherapy and energetic healing, spending almost two decades helping people through hypnotherapy and teaching self-hypnosis at Torrance Adult School. In 2010, he was awarded the Hypnosis Foundation's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. A Renaissance man whose interests ranged wide and deep, Wistar was an expert flautist, champion Squash player, collector of award-winning koi fish, lover of dogs, and devout Quaker whose pacifism made him a conscientious objector during the Korean War. In place of military service, he and his wife spent two years as orphanage "house parents" at Greer School. He is remembered by friends, and past students and clients, for his helpfulness, hospitality, boundless good humor, and ready wit. Mr. Wood is survived by his wife Bertie; son David; daughters Carol, Diana and Annabella; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A memorial will be held on April 3, 3:00 pm at St. Luke's Presbyterian Church, in Rolling Hills Estates, where he and Bertie have been members for over 50 years. All are welcome to attend in person or on Zoom https://youtu.be/P4LEcvTKTAI.