Leroy Paul Wood

Leroy Wood Obituary

Leroy Paul Wood, Sr.

November 21, 1941 ~ July 8, 2025

Roy "Woody" Wood of Edgemere, Maryland, died Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

He leaves behind his wife of 63 years, Irene (Earling), his son Roy Wood Jr and his wife Brenda (Mahan) of Leominster, Massachusetts, his daughter Kelley (Wood) Dilworth and her husband Rick of Jarrettsville, Maryland, grandchildren Matt "Woody" Wood and his wife Beth (Davis) and their children Elliott and Evie of Keene, New Hampshire, Sarah Dilworth and her husband Dermot Fitzpatrick, and their child Finn of Dublin, Ireland, Zack Dilworth of Jarrettsville, Maryland, and Josh Dilworth of Jarrettsville, Maryland.

Roy grew up in Highlandtown, East Baltimore, the youngest son of the late Charles Marquess "Micky" Wood Jr. and Anna Evelyn (Cook), with two brothers: the late Robert "Bob" Marcellus Wood of Dundalk, Maryland, and Charles Marques "Mark" Wood III of Sykesville, Maryland.

He also had so many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends ~ too many to name ~ that he adored, but one cousin in particular that he left behind held a special place in his heart, Linda (Cook) Roberts of Baldwin, Maryland.

Roy worked for almost 30 years as a Baltimore City Firefighter, and then spent over 25 years enjoying his retirement, fishing and crabbing at his waterfront dream home, and spending time with family near and far.

As per his wishes, the family had a small private viewing, followed by cremation, with plans for a future celebration of his life at a later date.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Baltimore Banner on Aug. 7, 2025.

Memories and Condolences
for Leroy Wood

2 Entries

George K. DAWSON

September 27, 2025

Just discovered the news of Roy's passing. Roy was a dear friend and co-worker at AAI Corp. before he left and joined the fire department. Roy had the greatest sense of humor. He kept us in stitches all through lunch, practically on a daily basis. On one occasion, Roy and his wife invited my wife and I to dinner. We were served what they led us to believe was beef tips. It was delicious to say the least. Afterwards Roy informed us that the meat was venison and not beef at all. All of us at AAI were broken hearted when Roy told us of his intentions to leave and join the Baltimore City Fire Department. I know that station must have loved having him there.
Please accept my much belated, heart-felt sympathy. So sorry that Roy's family had to bear the loss of your loved one. He will never be forgotten.

Kelley

August 7, 2025

It´s with great sadness that we announce that our Dad, Roy Wood Sr, known to many as "Woody", took his last breath on Tuesday, July 8th, while I held his hand, and laid my head on his shoulder.
He died, as he lived, on his own terms.
For someone that grew up mostly without a dad, he was THE BEST Dad! Anyone that knew him, knew what a big kid he was. The first one to get the sleds out during snowstorms and take all the kids to the park to slide down the hills, as well as the one to put on a big 4th of July fireworks show on the corner of our street for all the neighborhood kids sitting on blankets along the curb. He taught many of our young friends how to fish at the Boat Lake in Patterson Park and would even take some of them with us on excursions to Loch Raven, Prettyboy, and Conowingo.
He loved our life in Highlandtown, but when the opportunity arose for him and my Mom to purchase her Aunt´s home on the water in Edgemere, even with 15% interest rates in 1980, he jumped at it, and never looked back. He was never happier than at this home. Coffee and the newspaper every morning on his waterfront porch, watching his purple martins spend move into their summerhouse on his pier, catching fish to eat for breakfast (yes, he often ate fish for breakfast) or to bait his crab pots, growing endless tomatoes in his garden, letting the local squirrels come in the kitchen for a peanut treat, and feeding his summertime best buddy, a Blue Heron named Hank, some freshly caught fish flopping about on his pier ~ he never grew tired of life on the water and was never bored (except in winter, he did not enjoy winter).
He and my mom settled into their early retirement in the 90s, traveling and being full time grandparents for a while. They would become more involved in their community as their grandchildren grew older, specifically serving on the board of Battle Grove Democratic Club for over a decade, before my mom´s dementia and the Covid19 pandemic finally made their involvement no longer possible.
Up until 2 years ago, my Dad would still cook on occasion, making all his `world famous´ foods: crab cakes, potato salad, vanilla butternut pound cake, and more...
These last few years were really difficult for him. Starting with selling his waterfront dream home due to his health issues ~ over a dozen lengthy hospitalizations, followed by never ending doctor visits, tests, therapies, and treatments. He suffered initially from chronic diverticulitis, which led to a colon perforation, followed by septic shock, organ failure damage, a large blood clot, and eventually that damage led to a heart attack, heart valve replacement, followed by a stroke in recovery, cardiac rehab, physical, occupational, and speech therapies, numerous infections, and finally he was diagnosed in early 2024 with a rare blood cancer that required weekly blood tests, transfusions, and infusion/injection treatments.
All the above ~ as well as a bad fall resulting in a brain bleed and transport to shock trauma back in April ~ took its toll on his health, not just physically, but emotionally as well.
Our immediate family (most of whom live out of state or country) was able to be with him at various times over these last few weeks, after he decided during his last hospitalization in late May, to end all medical interventions ~ no more medication, no more treatments ~ and to let hospice take over his care.
Again, his terms.
He just wanted to spend his final days with my mom, who still knew and adored him, til the end...
We would like to thank so many of you, for checking in, especially these last few challenging months, and for all the love & support over the last few difficult years, as they both struggled with their decline.
In order to make this transition easiest on my mom, we have decided to honor my Dad´s wishes with a small private family viewing, followed by cremation and a future celebration of his life.
To his family and friends: enjoy the trip down memory lane with these photos. Feel free to share any stories, memories, and any of your own photos in the comments here...

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