Jerry Wood Obituary

Jerry D. Wood

(December 28, 1938-May 21, 2024)

Jerry D. Wood, 85 of Franklin, Indiana passed away on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. 

He was born on December 28, 1938 in Senath, Missouri to Orba and Donna (Sanders) Wood.  Jerry married Carol (Goodman) Wood on November 14, 1959.  She preceded him in passing in October 2023.

He is survived by their children, David Wood, Vicky Voris (Danny) and Sandra Wood (John). Other survivors include grandchildren Lindsay Voris, Nick Hall, Daniel Voris, Joni Hall, Garrett Wood, Sam Wood, and Katie Wood, and great-grandchild Fairah Gearries. He is also survived by his brother, Claude Ray Wood. He was preceded in passing by his sister, Roberta Goodman.  

Jerry graduated from Franklin Community High School in 1956 where he played guard on the football team and was a dash man and high jumper on the track team.  He was an avid fisherman and hunter who taught his son how to hunt.  Their love of hunting has since been passed down to his son’s children. 

He loved gospel music, bluegrass, and country music and, at one time, played the double bass. Jerry was always a bit restless, picking up new interests, but loved meeting different people from all over. He and his wife, Carol, had biweekly card games with their best friends. They both attended church for most of their adult lives. 

When the weather was nice, he would, without fail, be riding his motorcycle around town, as recent as last week. An inveterate people watcher, he loved going to festivals and to the farmer’s market where he would help his friends pack popcorn and chat with different people. His favorite summer event was the Johnson County Fair, which he had attended every year from the age of 14 to last year’s fair. He and his family were a familiar sight at the “Wood Corner” during the fair each year.  

As a child, he traveled with his parents from state to state working on different farms until they finally settled down in Franklin, IN in 1952. After he graduated from high school, he started his employment at Eli Lilly’s which continued until his retirement in 1990. In 1958, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission for a dramatic, harrowing rescue of a co-worker from drowning in the Tippecanoe River. 

Jerry was a family man who worked hard to support his wife of 64 years and three children. He loved to play and talk with his grandchildren, who all have unforgettable memories of their childhood with him. He was well-known for his homemade ice cream recipe which he created himself and his date loaf which he learned to make from his mother. Every summer, the family would be treated to buckets of homemade ice cream. Jerry’s life was centered around his family and friends who knew him as a loyal, generous man with a hearty laugh. 

He had an uncanny knack for figuring things out that would stump most people.  His strength in the tornado of life, pride in anything that he was responsible for, and larger than life presence were defining qualities that will forever live on in the memories of all who crossed his path.     

Calling hours for family and friends will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Flinn and Maguire Funeral Home, 2898 North Morton Street, (U.S. 31 North) in Franklin with a Celebration of Life service given by Pastor Andy Kinsey to commence at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 1st at the funeral home, with a gravesite service immediately following at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin, Indiana.