Deborah L. Wood

Deborah Louise (Dening) Wood, died Monday, September 23, 2024. Deborah was born May 20, 1952 in Framingham, Massachusetts to Kenneth A. Dening and Carolyn B. (Simmons) Dening. She was married to Thomas E. Wood Jr. on August 10, 1974 at the United Community Church of Tupper Lake.
Calling hours are at 10:00 am on Saturday, October 5th at R.W. Walker Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am with burial to follow at the Riverside Cemetery on Steltzer Road in Plattsburgh. A light meal and time to reminisce will be held after the burial at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Plattsburgh for all who wish to attend.
Deb is survived by her husband of 50 years Tom Wood, Daughter Lisa (Russell) Stone, Brother Deke (Roberta) Dening, brothers in law: Paul (Mary) and David (Donna), as well as by nieces Kamilla Dening, Carol Lynn (Erica) and Emily Wood (Travis), and nephews Christopher (Emily Aldrich), Matthew and Sean Wood; David (Mary), John (Kate), and Chris (Kristen) Dening. Her Mother and Father predeceased her as well as her Sister -in-law Leslie Jean Wood.
She grew up in Tupper Lake and graduated from Tupper Lake High School in 1970 and Plattsburgh State in 1974 with a degree in Speech Therapy. At college she developed many close friends and as fate would have it met her future husband in her first week. They went together for her college years.
Debbie was blessed, having a wonderful loving relationship with both her family and all of her husband's family and looked forward to all get-togethers with any and all. Birthday Parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas were always her favorite times. At the Wood gatherings, when everyone would sit down for their first meal she would announce in a loud and enthusiastic voice "Let the festivities begin". Then when the card playing or board games began her nephew would say "Aunt Debbie would you like to play" to which she would reply "No, I'll just sit over here, read my book and listen to all of you laugh and talk". She always wanted to hear the laughter, jokes, and stories right through her last week. She always said whatever happens I want to be me, right up to the last.
Debbie was very organized and would keep a list of what foods, toys, or activities each member of her family and friends liked and when those members came to visit she would always make sure their favorites were on hand. She was adept at having the right toys for each child who visited. At a recent visit one seven year old family member said "Aunt Debbie, your house doesn't look like a house, it's like an arcade".
Deb began working for the Clinton County ARC in September 1974. There were only a handful of employees at that time and she watched it grow into the large organization it is today. She retired from the ARC after working 42 years.
During her employment she served at various times as an Activities Director, House Parent at Salmon River Residence, Day Care Program, Workshop, Early Infant Intervention Program, Case Manager, and ended as a Habilitation Plan Writer for all the individuals the ARC served. She learned and taught sign language to those she served.
In 1978 she was diagnosed with lymphoma and given a 5% chance of living by her doctors. She went to the Lahey Clinic in Boston and with the prayers of numerous Churches and individuals was cancer free by the end of the year. Throughout most of her life she attended Church regularly, sang in the Choir, and helped with specific projects.
Deb was always willing to help others. During the refugee crisis in the 1990's she volunteered to lead the support of a large family who were housed at the First Baptist Church. She also opened her home to refugees from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan. These families or individuals lived with us for varying times from two months to a year. She made lists of words for both languages so she could communicate as her Spanish & French were minimal. In the 2010's and 2020's she helped collect things needed for the Roxham Road refugees seeking asylum in Canada. She helped package food packs at St. Joseph's Community Outreach Center for travelers in need.
She took the training to be a foster parent while in her 40's and found it hilarious and delightful to be learning how to take care of a baby from those half her age. She took in foster children for a few years and ended up adopting a 4 year old daughter in 1996. She became devoted to her and did everything she could to raise her to be a successful and loving adult. This necessitated getting a dog for her, thus Misty and later Annabelle became part of the family. When we chose to do foster care we decided to add a play room. Debbie designed the room and included an indoor swing for the children. It was extensively used. To introduce her daughter to the family and make her feel secure, she orchestrated an ABC (Adoption, Birthday, Christening) party for her 4th birthday in May of 1996 in the unfinished playroom. All the family from both sides attended.
Deb was very intelligent, faithful, even tempered and discerning. She knew when to say something and when not too. She was a good judge of character and a good friend when she got to know you. Not a great conversationalist, she liked working on projects with others so they had something in common to talk about. She was an avid reader with Mary Higgins Clark, J.K. Rowlings, B. J. Hoff, and Victoria Holt being among her favorite writers. She had an excellent way with words and could write a plan (paragraph or essay) so that it could be understood by anyone and convey the point precisely. She sent a yearly synopsis of our activities to all in her family and many friends. One of her projects was to make an Owner's Manual for the house on Route 22 so her husband would know what to do if something didn't work. She was very innovative, finding ways to jerry-rig things so they would function.
Debbie enjoyed traveling and we spent 3 weeks to a month visiting the four corner states and the next year the northern Midwest and far west of our beautiful Country, all told, covering parts of 47 states. She loved the differences in landscape, scenery and wondered at the various National Parks. She enjoyed trips to the Maritimes, Alaska, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland and England, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, the Bahamas, and China (which was her favorite). Her favorite place was Disney World which she visited 5 or 6 times with friends and family. Her favorite activity was being with friends and family.
Note: This has not been proofread for accuracy or grammar (Debbie always did that)
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Plattsburgh Cares P.O. Box 1932 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 or through the website at www.plattsburghcares.org
To share a memory or condolence with the family, please visit www.rwwalkerfh.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the R.W. Walker Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 69 Court Street, Plattsburgh, NY.