David James Wood

David J. "Dave" Wood, age 57, passed away peacefully on January 29th. He was born early in the morning on Thursday, November 14th, 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Donald and Judith (Funderburk) Wood. After graduating from Park Center High School in 1987, he attended Bemidji State University where he focused on a music major. Dave enjoyed participating in choir and performing in plays. His greatest performance was playing the lead as Danny Zuko in Grease. Dave then worked at Valley Fair as a performer for two summers before entering a career in customer service, where he discovered his niche. After 12 years at Aetna, he found at Whole Foods a workplace where he was happy, truly belonged, and felt completely at home.

Dave loved a variety of music - from Frank Sinatra, to classic rock, to his favorite - Madonna. He loved music so much that he listened to his playlist in his car during work breaks. ( Before he went anywhere, it would take him 5 minutes in the car just to get his playlist set!) Dave also fell in love with travel and although he didn't do it often, those memories stayed with him. He had the opportunity to sing in Austria, Turkey and Czechoslovakia with his college choir and fell in love with Hawaii, where he became a chaser of sunsets. Dave was always up for a good meal - his sister would often try out new recipes on him and he always enjoyed dinner prepared by his dad, who was a Chef.

Dave is preceded in death by his mother, maternal and paternal grandparents, and several other loved ones. He is survived by his father (Donald), stepmother (Kristin), sister (Donna), aunts, uncles, cousins and many, many friends.