R286
Husband: Dennis Floyd Wood, Jr.
Father: Dennis Floyd Wood [R284]
Mother: Russie Cooper (Crews) Wood [R284]
Born: 8/28/1926
Wife: Elizabeth Ann (Meadows) Wood
Father: Ezra Carl Meadows, b. 3/27/1893, Mercer Co., W.Va. D.
12/29/1955, Beckley, Raleigh Co., W.Va., Buried Sunset Memorial
Park, Beckley
Mother: Dallie (Harvey) Meadows, b. 3/18/1898, Egeria, Raleigh Co.,
W.Va. D. 5/1/2000, Beckley, Raleigh Co.,W.Va. Buried Sunset
Memorial Park, Beckley
Born: 2/2/1931, Affinity, Raleigh Co., W.Va.
Married: 6/17/1950, Beckley, Raleigh Co., W.Va.
Children:
Dennis Floyd Wood III, b. 2/10/1958, Roanoke, Va., m. 9/12/1981 in
Greensboro, N.C. to Cindy Leigh Thomas. Ch. Michael Thomas
Wood, b. 11/26/1984 in Charlotte, N.C. and Dennis Spenser Wood,
b. 8/14/1987 in Charlotte, N.C. (See [R287], Fig. R286b).
(2010) Dennis, Jr. was the first child born of Dennis Floyd Wood and Russie Cooper Crews Wood. He was born in Beckley, Raleigh Co., W.Va. He graduated from Daniels Elementary school and Shady Spring High School in Raleigh Co., W.Va. He also graduated from Beckley College, now Mountain State University, in 1950. In high school Dennis played the clarinet in the band and orchestra throughout his years there. He has said this was the highlight of his high school experience.
Upon finishing high school, Dennis worked summers and evenings while attending Beckley College at a tire repair shop (a thriving business during World War II). After two and one-half years he became employed with the Lillybrook Coal Co. stores division, which operated the coal company commissaries (company stores). He became a Store Manager and Post-master in February, 1950 at Lego, Raleigh Co., W.Va. He was the youngest store manager, at 23, that the company had ever had among its thirteen stores. He continued as Store Manager and Postmaster until the store closed in April 1954, when Lillybrook closed all but one of its thirteen stores due to the deep slump of the coal business. Many coal mines were being closed at this time and the coal business was the dominant industry in southern W.Va. Dennis then analyzed the employment outlook for him in southern W.Va. and felt the future was brighter for him elsewhere.
He went with the General Electric Co. Financial Services in June 1954 in Raleigh, N.C., a position he retired from on Oct. 1, 1986. GE moved Dennis several times throughout his career with them; to Raleigh and Fayetteville, N.C., Roanoke and Richmond, Va., and the Washington DC/Baltimore area, where he lived in Alexandria, Va. for twenty-two years. His final assignment was as a Regional Business Center Manager, in Columbia, Md. He commuted about 53 miles each way from his residence in Alexandria, Va. for the final ten years. During Dennis, Jr's career he sat on the Board of the Washington, DC Credit Association for several years.
Dennis, Jr., and his son, Dennis Floyd Wood, III, were honored to be accepted into the "Sons of the American Revolution" (SAR) in 2005. They were inducted into the Fincastle Resolutions Chapter of Roanoke, Va.
While with Lillybrook Coal Co., Dennis met his future wife, Elizabeth Ann Meadows. They were married on June 17,1950 in the First Baptist Church in Beckley, W.Va. Dennis and his wife had one son, Dennis Floyd Wood, III, who was born in 1958 in Roanoke, Va. Their son graduated from North Carolina State University in 1980 with a degree in Civil Engineering. While at North Carolina State Dennis III became a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He also graduated from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, N.C. with a Masters of Business Administration degree. He earned his Professional Engineering License for the states of of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Upon his graduation from North Carolina State he accepted a position with Duke Power (now known as Duke Energy Corporation) in Charlotte, N.C.
On September 12, 1981, Dennis III married Cindy Leigh Thomas of Greensboro, NC. Cindy is a graduate of Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. with a degree in Business. They have two sons, Michael Thomas Wood, born in 1984, and Dennis Spenser Wood, born in 1987. Michael graduated in 2007 from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C. Upon his graduation he accepted a position with Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C. Spenser attends the Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C. (2010). He is an accomplished photographer.
Dennis Jr's wife, Elizabeth Ann, graduated from Concord College in Athens, W.Va. in 1954 with a degree in Education. She taught school for eleven years, then became a school librarian in Alexandria, Va. for sixteen years until her retirement from the Fairfax County, Va. School System in 1986.
After retirement, Dennis Jr. and his wife, moved to Cary, N.C. in 1991 to be nearer their son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons in Charlotte, N.C. Over the years, Dennis and his wife have traveled to Hawaii, Bermuda, Italy, France, Monaco, Ireland, Scotland and England. They have visited all but a few of the 50 states.
Dennis, Jr. and Elizabeth celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on June 17, 2010. Their son, Dennis, III and wife Cindy, hosted the occasion at the Angus Barn Restaurant in Raleigh, NC.
Source [S166]
