Gordon Evans Wood Sr., led extraordinary life

Gordon Evans Wood Sr., 89, of Ocean View, passed away peacefully with his sons by his side Thursday, May 15, 2025. Born Nov. 29, 1935, in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the son of the late Richard Kenneth Wood and Hilda (Evans) Wood.

Gordon moved with his family from Garden City, N.Y., to Roxanna at the age of 10. Growing up in Ocean View and Millville, he became a man of huge curiosity, and many talents and passions. A 1953 graduate of Lord Baltimore High School, in a class of 30, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from University of Delaware in 1957 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Reserve via the Army ROTC program. He served in the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, N.J., leaving the Army as a first lieutenant in 1958. As a young engineer, he pursued studies in fluid mechanics, advanced math, and rocket motors at Illinois Institute of Technology and Case Institute of Technology in 1958-59, and then earned a master’s degree in engineering administration from George Washington University in 1965. He graduated with a juris doctor degree from George Washington University’s National Law Center in 1971, where he was a moot court finalist. He was a member of the Virginia State Bar and the American Rocket Society.

Gordon’s professional life was as diverse as it was accomplished—an engineer, lawyer, author, executive/corporate board member, director, and civic leader. From 1960-70, he was a rocket engineer with the Atlantic Research Corporation in Virginia, where he worked on many military and space program projects. From 1971-78, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Public Works and Transportation, where he served as assistant minority counsel and minority counsel, and was lead staff member on the landmark 1972 and 1977 Clean Water Acts, Superfund, and water resources legislation. For 10 years until 1988, he was vice president for Government Relations of the Olin Corporation. Until 1992, he was senior vice president of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, and until 1997, he was deputy director and counsel of the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, from which he “retired.”

During his spare time, he shared his time and skills as president of two community associations, member of the Fairfax City Charter Commission, founding member of the Disciples of Christ Congregation of the Fairfax Christian Church (with his first wife, Susan K. Wood, with whom he raised four sons), chairman of the board of Boy Scout Troop 1505 in Fairfax, Va., town commissioner of Bethany Beach, board member and chairman of the Nabb Center at Salisbury University, court appointed special advocate for children (CASA), and member and chairman of the Center for Inland Bays Implementation Committee, and later a member of the board of directors, governor-appointed member of Delaware Environmental Appeals Board, and two-term mayor of Ocean View. He was proud of his role as one of the first three on the organizing committee that founded Delaware National Bank, and he was a bank director for 25 years. 

Gordon was an accomplished historian and genealogist, focusing mainly on the history of Baltimore Hundred. He was a member of Ocean View Historical Society. He authored, “Letters to the Little Ones,” a book on family and local Baltimore Hundred history and Evans, Dazey/Daisey, Hall and Green family histories; “From Prince Edward Island to Millville, Delaware in 250 Years,” the story of his father’s Wood and Ramsay families; and a book on his grandmother Nellie Daisey Evans and her ancestors and family containing Dazey/Daisey and Green histories on Delmarva.  

Gordon was a devoted sports fan, from his boys’ youth club games in most every sport up through high school and college, to his favorite pro teams, the Redskins/Commanders, Nationals, Orioles and Dodgers. He held season tickets to the Redskins since 1966, still going to games “with his boys” through last season. 

Gordon found great joy in nature and cherished time spent with family and friends in the beauty of the Delaware coast, especially White’s Creek and Bethany Beach. 

He enjoyed nothing more than being with family and friends on the beach at sunset for the Fourth of July or sitting around the dining room table at their home on the marsh, enjoying a holiday dinner.

He was also a world traveler, with his family and the love of his life, Pat, travelling all over the U.S. and visiting 122 countries on all seven continents.

Gordon is survived by his beloved wife, Patricia K. Wood; his sons, Richard Kenneth Wood II (Betsy), Robert Kimmel Wood (Claire), Gordon Evans Wood Jr. (Lauren) and David Neal Wood (Erin); and his stepsons, Adam Hill (Jill) and Brad Hill (Theresa); 15 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and another on the way. He is also survived by his loving sisters, Lois Dolby (Bruce) and Susan Timmons (the late Tom) of Clarksville.

Gordon was an extraordinary man who lived a remarkable life. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered for his wisdom, generosity, and unwavering dedication to family, community, and country. 

A memorial service will be held with visitation from 10 to 11 a.m., Friday, June 13, at Ocean View Church of Christ, 55 West Ave., Ocean View, with a beginning at 11 a.m. Interment to immediately follow at Mariner’s Bethel Cemetery. 

In lieu of flowers, consider donating to the Gordon Evans Wood Sr. Engineering Scholarship Fund at Fulton Bank, 70 Atlantic Ave., Ocean View, DE 19970, Attn: GEW Sr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Visit Gordon’s Life Memorial webpage at watsonfh.com.

Services entrusted to Watson Funeral Home and Crematorium, 211 S. Washington St., Millsboro.