In Memory

John Wood

Deceased Classmate: John Wood
Date Deceased: May-1970
Age at Death: 20
Cause of Death:
Classmate City: Abilene
Classmate State: TX
Classmate Country: USA
Survived By:



 
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09/06/09 12:20 PM #1    

Lance Powers

I cannot understand how no one has posted a comment. I have told John Wood stories for many years. He was truly the most outstanding devil and angel I have seen. Rex Pickens has the best tales. I still miss him. Shit turned to gold. Hope he made it to heaven

09/09/09 05:28 PM #2    

Craig Thompson





John was a man who was big in spirit.

He was big in fun.

He was a little wild.

But always with a big heart.

He had that El Camino which pulled unbelievably to the right. Maybe 20-25 pounds all the time. He would "pass ‘em on the right" going down a two lane highway. There was always room for John.

We went to Via Acuna one night. Stayed up all night mostly in this one bar where 7 or 8 Mexican men were taking turns dancing with this gorgeous Mexican young woman. We had just a few beers, not even that drunk.

It was quite magical, really. A lot of soul, those people.

We decided to drive home at maybe 5 in the morning. He fell asleep and I was driving. I fell asleep, ran through a fence and tore up 2 tires. We could have easily killed ourselves. It was rough country and we were in the middle of nowhere. Going off a cliff or hitting a wall was just as likely as ending up on flat ground where we were. We walked just a few yards and found a little ranch and a guy who spoke no english. He took us to a little shop which had a pneumatic tire machine. John was working at the time as a tire mechanic. He put a tube in this tubeless tire and got us home. A little bit of trouble there. My dad didn't know what to think of John Wood but he did have a soft spot for him.

When John was just a little kid he used to come by our house selling doughnuts Saturday morning. He and Jordan.

I know there's a lot more stories.

Losing him was a big blow. Maybe better for him somehow. His purity was not going to last somehow. I always wondered about that.

If I can paraphrase the Bhavagad Gita. Arjuna is on the battlefield standing looking at his teachers, friends, cousins on the enemy side and he breaks down and says to Khrisna that he cannot do it, he cannot fight.

Khrisna says that "All of those guys have always been there and they will always be here. What counts is to be a hero. Just as all of those guys are heroes." John was always a hero.

One time we are driving around trying to get into trouble, throwing water baloons at catclaw creek on So. 14th. There are maybe 5 of us and we get crosswise with these 4 guys in another car. We all jump out and are about to get into some fisticuffs. John looks around at the situation and sees some guys who are pretty much up for this and he just turns and runs laughing all the way and we are running down the creek to our hidden car but we get found and get chased for 30 minutes all over town. The look on his face when he took off running was priceless and it was really just the thing to do.

He was my hero. He had such a good attitude. Not too serious. Lightly. Lightly. A hero to his hero friends. He made us all heros.


Craig Thompson

09/28/09 02:12 PM #3    

Rick Wise

I also (like Lance) have many 'John' stories. He was surely one of a kind. I believe he was the first person I ever got drunk with, and no, we weren't old enough. His death was certainly a shock and tragedy. He died much too early, but is buried in Elmwood cemetery. I think it was late '69 or early '70. If someone were to check it out, the date is right there.

03/02/11 10:26 PM #4    

Edward Wallace

I knew John at Bowie Elementary. Jordan I were in the 1st grade and I remember his big  brother John which was one funny guy! John and Jordan lived in our neighborhood so I saw them around a lot. I have a memory of huddling up in a 5th/6th grade football game and John was in the huddle? Anyway, I knew him at Jefferson and Cooper. He never changed. Always a great guy and good friend. I think he or Jordan was the one that showed us how to milk the coke machine with a corn dog stick. Free coke all day long. He used to always tell me that I had a good daddy (Wallace Dobbs). I was really sad when I had heard he died in about 1970 or so. He was unique and he is missed!


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