Father Roger H. Wood

1923 - 2017

November 9, 1923 - June 14, 2017 Father Roger Wood, a canon of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Los Angeles, died at his home in Sierra Madre on June 14 at the age of 93 from complications of multiple myeloma. Father Wood was a native of Sierra Madre and a descendent of the pioneer Hawks family, who settled there in the 1880s. He served as a naval officer during World War II in the Pacific, where he took part in the invasion of Okinawa and the occupation of Japan. After the war, he attended Stanford University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1948. He studied at the University of London on a scholarship, then returned to study law at Stanford, where he received his law degree in 1952. Roger worked for several years as legal counsel for the California state legislature in Sacramento, before deciding that his true calling was to provide people with personal and spiritual care. He attended the Episcopal Seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, and was ordained in 1957. Father Wood first served as vicar of Saint Francis Church in Moab, Utah, and later as the rector of Saint Mary's Church in Provo. In 1967 he moved back to Los Angeles and became the assistant rector at the Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights. There he became involved with the civil rights movement in the Hispanic community, specifically with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Father Wood eventually became the rector of Epiphany and remained there until his retirement in 1982. After he retired, Roger practiced family law in Palo Alto for two years, and then returned to Southern California to work for the Los Angeles Legal Aid Society and the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law. In 1988, he returned to the church ministry as the chaplain of the Episcopal home in Alhambra. He joined the Friends Outside organization at that time and served as a board member and as a visitor at the Los Angeles County jail, providing legal and spiritual assistance for inmates and their families. Father Wood was honored by Friends Outside for his 25 years of dedicated service and received a letter of commendation from his Stanford classmate, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Father Wood is survived by his niece Alison Wood of San Francisco and his nephew Steve Wood of Solana Beach. Services will be held at 10:00 am, Wednesday, June 21 at the Church of the Ascension, 25 E. Laurel Ave. in Sierra Madre. Interment will be at the Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, 601 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., immediately following the services.