Herschel Wood

February 9, 1931 – September 26, 2025
Herschel James Wood ("Jim") passed away on September 26, 2025, at the age of 94 in Lago Vista, Texas. He was born on February 9, 1931, in Houston, Texas to parents Herschel James Wood Sr. and Bernice De Yoe Wood.
Jim married the love of his life, Nancy Hollowell Wood, on March 6, 1954, in Houston, Texas, at St. Luke's Methodist Church, where both families were founding members. Jim and Nancy were married for 71 years at the time of his passing.
Jim is preceded in death by his parents and his beloved sister Charlotte Anne Wood Horton. Jim is survived by his wife, Nancy Wood; children, Mark Stanton Wood and husband Ron Ennis, Wendy Wood Davis and husband Darren Davis, and Sallie Suzette Wood; granddaughter, Christi Hickman; nephew, Steven Ewing and husband Steven Buss; niece, Kelty Crain and husband Rogers Crain Sr. and their children Alexander Crain, Lawson Crain, and Rogers Crain Jr.; niece, Claudia Weitinger; and nephew, Ralph Fite.
Jim loved sailing at the Houston Yacht Club and was a private pilot who built his own plane, an Aeronca Chief. He also owned a Cessna 170B and a Tri-V Biplane.
Jim attended Lamar High School in Houston and The University of Texas, where he earned a degree in engineering.
In 1953, Jim was hired at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico as a telemetry and rocket engineer, where he worked for 10 years. He later founded Garwood Development Lab in Las Cruces, New Mexico. When the Wood family moved back to Houston, he was hired to travel to Japan as a consultant at a conference of Japanese companies working in telemetry and rocketry. Jim subsequently opened the Houston office of Garwood Development Lab.
In 1962, NASA established the Manned Spacecraft Center, and Jim applied for a position in telemetry. Because of his extensive experience, NASA hired him as Head of the Telemetry Office in the Department of Engineering. He worked at NASA for 20 years.
While every rocket launch was important, the 1970 Apollo 13 mission proved especially challenging. When an explosion occurred during the mission, damaging the Command Module that would have returned the crew to Earth, all divisions of the Apollo program worked around the clock to find a solution. Ultimately, they devised a complex but successful plan that brought the astronauts home safely.
For his efforts, Jim and his team received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon-the highest civilian honor in the United States. His framed medal remains on the wall in his office.
A memorial service will be held at Lakeside Christian Fellowship in Lago Vista, Texas, on Saturday, October 18, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas at a later date.
Memorial donations may be made to the following:
Lakeside Christian Fellowship
P.O. Box 4874, Lago Vista, TX 78645
(512) 267-1700
Trinity Anglican Church
18900 RM 1431, Jonestown, TX 78645
(512) 599-4035
McDonald Observatory (through Anna Boxall)
(512) 471-3303