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- Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - November 21, 2005
Deceased Name: ANNA RUTH 'PAT' WOOD
Dedicated career to education of mentally disabled children
Anna Ruth "Pat" Wood was an educator dedicated to helping children with mental disabilities help themselves.
Mrs. Wood died of natural causes Thursday at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. She was 89.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Restland Funeral Home. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Northridge Presbyterian Church, 6920 Bob-O-Link Drive in Dallas.
Mrs. Wood was born Anna Ruth Patterson on Feb. 10, 1916, in Eureka, Texas. She earned her bachelor's degree from North Texas Teachers College, now the University of North Texas.
After receiving her degree, Mrs. Wood taught high school English and theater in Springtown in Parker County. She was introduced to a student's brother, J. Lee Wood, and they were married in 1938.
Mr. Wood served in the military during World War II, and the couple moved as his service required. After the war, they lived in Fort Worth. They moved to Dallas in 1951.
Paul Wood of Dallas, Mrs. Wood's son, said when his mother volunteered to help children to learn to read through a Baptist church program in Oak Cliff, she became involved with developmentally challenged children. That involvement would grow into a life's work.
"That went to her very soul, " Mr. Wood said. "She simply felt a calling."
Mrs. Wood went back to school and in 1959 earned a master's degree in special education.
For 20 years, Mrs. Wood was director of Children Inc., a Dallas school that helped children with disabilities to assimilate and become independent. The students became "Miss Pat's kids."
Mrs. Wood also was president of the Association for Retarded Citizens, now known as The Arc of the United States. The Arc is an advocacy group that helps people with mental disabilities find their places in public schools and the workplace.
Dedication to special education earned her numerous awards, but Mr. Wood said that Mrs. Wood was a selfless person who identified a job that needed to be done and did it.
"She didn't want to look away. They were just too important," Mr. Wood said.
He said that as devoted as Mrs. Wood was to her special children, she never neglected her own family. He said that if she heard that one of her grandchildren didn't feel well, her stock answer was: "I'll be there in 15 minutes."
After her retirement, Mrs. Wood volunteered at Northridge Presbyterian Church in Dallas, where she was a member since 1959.
Mrs. Wood was preceded in death by her husband and two sons, James P. Wood and Lester L. Wood. In addition to her son, she is survived by a sister, Eleanor Dorsett of San Angelo, Texas; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
E-mail drenfrow@dallasnews.com
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
Date: November 21, 2005
Author: DAVID RENFROW
Edition: NORTH
Page: 7B
Record Number: 1180215554
(c) Copyright, 2005, The Dallas Morning News [3]
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1914 - 2005 (91 years)
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