Mr. John F. Wood's Obituary
The mountain has lost an extraordinary man.
John Franklin Wood—known to many for his skills as an auctioneer—died on Sunday, Jan. 12 due to complications from cancer after a 25-year remission.
Born in Charleston, W.Va., to Mack and Jane Wood, John graduated from high school in 1948.
“I knew I was going to be drafted,” Wood had told the Mountain News several years ago. “My thought was, ‘If I’m going to be drafted, I’ll go to Florida and wait.”
The young man had no money and needed a job. When he drove by a farmer’s market and heard the auctioneer, Wood was fascinated. “I told the auctioneer I needed a job,” he said. When asked if he could auction, Wood’s answer was, “Sure.”
He practiced walking along the beach beside the ocean. That he was a quick study was evidenced by the auctioneer offering the 20-year-old a job. All of a sudden, he had both a job and a place to live as the job came with an apartment on the property.
After working there for a year, Uncle Sam caught up with Wood, who served in the Army for two years. Once out of the service, Wood went to work for the J.L. Todd Auction Company, traveling all over the south, going from sale to sale.
“I was in heaven,” Wood recalled.
He eventually reached California in 1958 and earned his real estate license. In the early 1960s he began selling land in Lake Arrowhead, where he moved with his wife, Cheryl, and their children in 1977.
Wood worked in real estate for 55 years, nearly 20 of them with Coldwell Banker Sky Ridge Realty.
AUCTIONEER EXTRAORDINAIRE
But it was as an auctioneer at nearly every fund-raising auction on the mountain that folks came to know and admire John Wood.
It began, Wood said, when the community was trying to raise money for paramedics. “No one knew I was an auctioneer,” he said. They soon found out, as he helped raise $108,000.
Over the years he raised countless hundreds of thousands of dollars for a number of worthy causes: Rebuilding Together, Camp Paivika through the quilt auction, Mountains Community Hospital through Le Grande Picnic and others.
“I donated my time because Lake Arrowhead has been good to me,” Wood said. “And you can’t pay me what I’m worth so I’ll donate my time!”
AVID WATER SKIER
Wood had enjoyed water skiing in Florida but, as he was developing his career, forgot about it until his children were young. Cheryl, Wood said, decided “we should have the kides out on the lake.” The family bought one boat, and then another.
Once he retired from his real estate career, Wood found more time to ski. But, he said, you would never find him out on the lake on a Friday or Saturday and seldom on a Sunday.
But at 7 a.m. on Monday, “I’d be in the water, the ski rope would be tied on and the engine running. When the clock struck seven, I’d say ‘hit it.’ We always tried to get as much of the glass (smooth lake) as possible.”
The Woods’ good friend Carol Banner would often be behind the boat, as well, with Cheryl acting as captain. “She does a superb job,” he said of her skills.
In talking about his and Carol Banner’s skiing abilities, Wood said, “We both do very well for our age. Maybe there should be a few more ancient people out there.
“If I feel really good,” he told the Mountain News, “I would start singing. You could always tell how good I felt by my singing.” But, he added, “it’s a good thing no one can hear me.”
Wood said he enjoyed skiing as exercise, something he also got by splitting wood—three cords a year. He and Cheryl used the wood to heat their home all winter; he left her with at least four years worth of expertly stacked firewood to keep her warm.
Wood will be remembered by his family and friends as a perceptive man who had the ability to quickly connect with others and had an uncanny ability to tell engaging stories about his life.
John Wood is survived by Cheryl, his wife of 40 years; his children Stephanie Miller, John Jr., Thomas and Hannah; two grandchildren; and his sister, Marjorie Easterly.
A memorial service with military honors will be performed on Monday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. at the Riverside National Cemetery, and a festive celebration of John’s life with his favorite music will be held at the Lake Arrowhead Resort on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, people make a donation in John Wood’s name to the local charity, Rebuilding Together Mountain Communities.
What’s your fondest memory of John?
What’s a lesson you learned from John?
Share a story where John's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with John you’ll never forget.
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