Lifelong East Hampton resident Richard M. Wood died on September 8 at Southampton Hospital. He was 74.
The son of Elsie (née Miller) and Elmer Wood, he was born on November 20, 1933, on School Street in Springs. After attending East Hampton High School, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.
He had a career in construction that lasted 45 years, starting out with the Frank Smith’s construction company and then with Ernie Dayton’s construction company, after which he worked for the Village of East Hampton’s Department of Public Works until his retirement in 2005.
A charter member and former chief of the Springs Fire Department, he was a member of American Legion Post 419, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 550. He cooked for the breakfast committees of both the Springs Fire Department and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was a member of the VFW bowling league. He also coached Little League with Jim Neuman Sr.
In addition to his wife of 51 years, Janet (née Lohman) Wood of East Hampton, he is survived by a son, Robert Wood of East Hampton; two daughters, Sheryl Cowan of Massapequa Park and Debra Lucas of New Jersey; two sisters, Elizabeth Warren of East Hampton and Lottie Lester of Amagansett; four granddaughters, Kathryn Wood and Melissa, Kelly and Suzanne Lucas; three grandsons, Alexander Cowan and Robert and Christopher Wood; and 35 nieces and nephews.
A granddaughter, Christina Cowan, three sisters, Dorothy Miller, Katherine Almquist, and Louise Anderson, and six brothers, Jarvis, Fred, Donald, John, Carl and George Wood all predeceased him.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, September 11, at 11 a.m. at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Interment will follow at Green River Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to the Springs Fire Department or the Springs Ambulance Company, at 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton, NY 11937.
on Sep 9, 2008