Roger Wood

Roger Wood will be remembered for many things.  He was always eager to talk shop, about tax law or the latest political move that would affect the bottom tax line or cars or travel. As his daughter and his coworker, I relied on his opinions and his approval. I had passionate conversations with him about many topics.  Roger always had an opinion and he was almost always willing to share it.

My dad was also a teacher. He taught me how to build things and gifted me with power tools to my obvious glee. He taught me about history through stories or his favorite TV pastime- war movies. He taught my brother about cars as they built the Mercedes together. He taught my son how to play chess.

Roger was proud of his kids, watching his son start his own business and working with me in the tax business. He enjoyed the company of his grandkids, happy to watch Rowan and Katherine grow into beautiful, smart adults and keep up with Jared and Keira’s activities. Roger loved my mom, Joyce, fiercely. She was his partner in life, his travel companion, his business partner, his nurse, his confidante. They had 57 years of married life together without a moment apart and gave my brother and I the best example of devotion and love.

Roger loved Lake Tahoe and the house there. He loved the smell of the trees, watching the snow fall outside his living room window, and enjoying the gathering of his family at his favorite time of year- Christmas. His son Mike, wife Ida and their girls Rowan and Katherine often on their way to skiing. Me, his daughter Dena, with my husband Allan and kids Jared and Keira, happy to snuggle and watch movies. In Tahoe was his dream garage where he spent days puttering and organizing tools and working on projects. A couple of days ago, I ducked into his recent finished project, a new tool shed, and I paused to marvel at his organization. Everything had its place- every bolt, hand tool etc. Every garage space he occupied spoke of his love of tools and his passion for cars. Pictures adorned the wall, his Sterns Knight Limousine, the crank start 1914 Empire, the 50’s convertible, the Jaguar, and many others. Cars were always a passion and my brother and I couldn’t grow up without a thorough appreciation for the construction, beauty, history, and magnificence of vintage models. Cars spoke about a period in time and a place in history and as a lover of history, Roger heard their stories.

                Roger had a head for facts and dates and could tell a story like nobody else. And among the stories of relatives long gone, or childhood shenanigans with his brother Don or his baby brother Bill or growing up times with his Dad Vernon, his mom Helen and his sister Pat, he could regal any listener about his travel stories. From his service days in the Air Force stationed in Okinawa to his first foray into California, his dating days with Joyce who was a neighbor, moving his young family from the family homeland in Ohio to California, working graveyards at United Air Lines, earning his degree in accounting from San Jose State and taking his family on European adventures, there was always a story to entertain.

                I’m mostly sad that my dad couldn’t continue to travel in recent years although he dreamed of it but was always getting sidelined by medical problems with his feet and legs and more recently with the long term impact on his body from diabetes. Roger was always stoic about the medical problems that came up, addressing each one and remaining hopeful that he would conquer them. This fall was especially hard on him as he just couldn’t stay ahead of the cascade of medical issues that came up. Never one to give up, I could see the struggle as his body failed to rally one more time against the onslaught of worsening problems with his liver and kidneys. I wanted him to be at peace but I didn’t want him to go. One day in late November after a particularly bad day when he was finally able to rest, he turned to me and gave me a thumbs up. The gesture meant so many things. If he could have said the words, I think he would have said something like “It’s okay” “I have had a good life” “I love you”. I gave him a thumb up back and if I could have spoken, I would have said, “Dad, I love you” “You did good” “It’s okay to go.” Just as he would signal a thumb up on aircraft carriers to give the all clear for airplanes to take off, I hope my dad, Roger has taken wing and is now seeing all the places and people he always loved.