Carl Orville 'Bill' Wood, 87

Carl O. "Bill" Wood, 87, who lived at Lakeside from 1983 to 2003, died of cancer on Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, at Peace Hospice in Great Falls. Bill was born, raised, and received his education in Joplin.

He married Violet Lyon in 1941.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served overseas during World War II. Following his honorable discharge in 1945 he returned to Joplin where the Woods lived, and raised a family of three.

Bill worked 13 years for Liberty County and was the road foreman at the time of his retirement in 1983.

Bill loved his life in the Flathead Valley. An avid fisherman, he also enjoyed entertaining friends, playing cribbage and solitaire, and reading.

His wife, Violet, died in 1989. Bill remained at Lakeside until his health began to fail in 2003, when he moved to Fort Benton to be near his daughter's family.

He is survived by two sons, Don and Jan Wood of San Ramon, Calif., and Mike Wood and Hollie Wells of Kalispell; a daughter, Carla, and Dennis Ghekiere, of Great Falls; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Harold "Nick" Wood of Payson, Ariz., and Forrest "Pork" Wood of Boise, Idaho; and a sister, Edna Duncan, of Lakeside.

A graveside service with burial of ashes will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Mountainview Cemetery in Ronan. A reception will follow.

Cremation and arrangements are by Rockman Funeral Chapel of Chester.