Donald M. Wood Jr., 88, a retired insurance executive and a ubiquitous board member and volunteer in Evanston organizations and business groups, died Sunday, March 26, in Evanston Hospital of pneumonia. He began working in his father’s insurance agency fresh out of Dartmouth College and the Amos Tuck Business School in 1933, and stayed at the company, Childs & Wood, for more than half a century. He sold the business in 1990. He was a quiet man who took the work seriously. Mr. Wood also had a good sense of humor, dryly remarking once that a skills aptitude test taken after his World War II service suggested he would make an excellent city planner. Instead, he returned to the insurance business, making good use of his organizational skills. He was best known for his civic activities. A resident of Evanston since 1939, Mr. Wood served at times as president of that city’s United Way and Family Counseling, as a board member of the Evanston Historical Society and as a trustee and usher at Evanston’s First United Methodist Church. In his retirement, Mr. Wood donated his professional experience to Hispanic communities in the Chicago area, helping businesses set up insurance policies through a program run by the Executive Services Corps. “He had plenty of energy, and he was always busy,” said his wife, Katherine. “He enjoyed that, and felt like he was contributing something, which is something he wanted to do.” In addition to his wife, Mr. Wood is survived by two daughters, Charlotte Wheeler and Betsy Knapp; a son, James; three grandchildren; and a great-grandson. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in the First United Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman Ave., Evanston.
