We will be celebrating Ed's life in a virtual memorial using Zoom using this link:
https://gatheringus.zoom.us/j/96064399633?pwd=MTZvT2NDcE1nZ2JIc1lESGhtQlZxdz09#success

Meeting ID: 960 6439 9633
Passcode: Gathering

After the official program, you have the option of joining friends for conversation and reflection in one of several reception rooms: 

Room 1: Rhode Island Friends
Room 2: Arizona friends
Room 3: Family
Room 4: CHAI
Room 5: Marines

Zoom links will be posted at the end of the program

Ed Wood Memorial

Erika Wood

Ed Wood

This obituary appeared in the Providence Journal on September 18, 2020:
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200917/ri-environmental-leader-ed-wood-dies-at-79
By Alex Kuffner Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — W. Edward Wood, a onetime Providence Journal reporter who became a pillar of the environmental community in Rhode Island before helping lead an international health initiative co-founded by President Bill Clinton, died Tuesday at his home in Hopkinton after suffering a heart attack. He was 79.
Wood, known as Ed, was the second director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management but, as the first to serve in the post for a prolonged period, from 1977 to 1982, he is credited with laying the groundwork for historic improvements in water quality in Narragansett Bay and enhanced protections for natural resources overall in the state.
As director of the state Department of Transportation, a post he was appointed to in 1982 after winning plaudits for his work on the environment, he took a lead role in moving the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck rivers and tearing down what was known as the world’s widest bridge to help remake downtown Providence.
He would go on to work as a consultant for Ira Magaziner, the businessman who became an adviser to President Clinton, before pursuing other ventures. Later in life, Magaziner convinced Wood to come out of retirement to head up operations for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, an international program to combat AIDS and other diseases that is now active in 39 developing nations.
Magaziner said that Wood’s passing will be mourned particularly in Africa, where he was most active. “One woman in Tanzania whose life Ed helped save even named her baby ‘Ed Wood.’” Magaziner wrote in an email. “A baby who would have died were it not for Ed is now a flourishing young man.”
Janet Coit, DEM director since 2011, knew Wood from The Nature Conservancy, where he served as a board member in Rhode Island and she was the state director. She compared the breadth of his achievements to the late U.S. Sen. John Chafee, for whom she once worked.
“He had such an incredible impact wherever he went,” she said.
Wood was born in 1941 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, and grew up outside Detroit. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Michigan. After graduating in 1962, he joined the Marine Corps and served 13 months as a captain in Vietnam.

Upon returning, he got a master’s degree in Japanese Studies, also at Michigan, before becoming a reporter, first with The Associated Press in Indiana, where he covered the civil rights movement, and then with The Providence Journal.
He moved into state government in 1975, as assistant director of the Public Utilities Commission and joined the Department of Natural Resources two years later. Wood was pivotal in transforming the troubled department into a new environmental agency that would take on an expanded role regulating air, land and water pollution in the state. Then-Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy named him director of the newly created DEM in 1977.
Robert Bendick became Wood’s deputy before replacing him as DEM director when Garrahy tapped Wood to take over the transportation department and clean up its scandal-plagued operations. Bendick and Wood worked closely together on the river relocation project that transformed Providence.
“He was very driven to accomplish good things,” said Bendick, who now works for The Nature Conservancy on the Gulf Coast. “Getting stuff done, not just talking about it.”
Catherine Sparks got to know Wood after he hired her as a forester in 1977. At the time, no other woman had held the position at the agency or its predecessor.
“We’re all trying to save the planet, but he really upped the game,” said Sparks, who is now the assistant director of the Bureau of Natural Resources at the DEM.

Brian Jones, a former Journal reporter, said Wood told him that the skills he honed as a journalist — to learn facts quickly and then speak and write about them clearly — were essential to his ability to switch professions. He recalled a story about a road trip that took Wood and his wife, Linda, past Worcester at a time when Wood was working to clean up a sewage treatment plant that was polluting the Bay.

“He announced an unscheduled detour into the city; when she asked why, Wood said Worcester had installed some sort of ‘super secondary processing unit’ at its new wastewater treatment plant, and maybe he could learn something that could be applied to the Providence facility,” Jones wrote in an email.
Coit remembers her surprise when Wood took the job with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2001.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “This was a guy who told me he was going to retire, and then I hear him talking about meeting with all these leaders in Africa.”
During his decade with the initiative, Wood opened offices across the continent.
“By doing that, he is fully responsible for [the] survival of millions of Africans who were suffering from AIDS and other communicable diseases and maternal child problems,” Dr. Yigeremu Abebe Asemere, vice president of the initiative and country director in Ethiopia, wrote in an email.
Wood’s varied career also included a stint as chief of staff to Gov. Bruce Sundlun in the early 1990s and as the head of a cable television company in the Midwest.
After he truly retired in 2011, Wood remained involved with the Hopkinton Land Trust and the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, of which he was the founder. The association formed when Wood was leaving the DEM. Instead of a going-away present, he asked colleagues to make donations to a fund to create the association, which is still active today.
Wood was an avid traveler who had been to every state except North Dakota — “He kept trying to find a way to get there,” his daughter, Erika Wood, said — and to more than 75 countries. After his death, Erika and her brother, Dan Wood, found a list of countries their father wanted to visit.
About 20 years ago, Wood and his wife bought a former pig farm next to their Hope Valley home and with the help of friends decided to turn it into a vineyard.
Dante Ionata, who met Wood at The Journal and became press secretary for the late U.S. Sen. John Pastore, was part of the group. They planted 1,000 vines and their wine has steadily improved, said Ionata.
“This fall, we’re looking forward to the heaviest crop we’ve ever had,” he said. “It’ll be the Ed Wood vintage.”
Wood is survived by his wife of 57 years, Linda; daughter, Erika; son, Dan; his brother, William Wood; and three grandchildren, Miles, Ayah and Kamil.

Page Settings

Enter location name

Full Name

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Black Friday Offering

Honor Their Memory

- Including QR Memorial Plaques, Memorial Trees and our Keeper Plus and Concierge Memorial Plans

Now offering KeeperQR Plaques

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Title

A message title is required. Please update.

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

MEMORIAL TREE PLANTED

BEES PROTECTED

PLASTIC RECYCLED

CLEAN WATER

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

Organization name

Your name

To permanently remove this item, select Remove. To keep this item, select Cancel.

You have selected to delete {count} items from the Mementos Library. In doing so, these items will be permanently deleted from your library.  Do you wish to continue?

Thank you for your submission. All submissions are reviewed and must be approved before they appear on the page.

Thank you for you submission.

Web URL

Create a full picture of your community by creating individual Memorial pages for your family members, friends, and more.

Highlight the important people in {name}'s life by adding them as a Loved One. You can add someone via their {brandName} Memorial or Living Memorial page, or add their information manually.

Enter this Loved One’s email to let them know you have added them.

Add Loved One

You can only add an image for your Loved one by upgrading to Keeper Plus or creating a Memorial page for a Loved One that has passed away.

This is where the descripton will appear.

Add up to 50 photos and/or videos to create an album of a specific moment in {firstName}’s life. You’ll be able to reorder files and add captions to each file after you save.

Enter an album title

This is the album title

How would you name this album?

Album title

Enter album title

Group title (optional)

Used to mention your loved one throughout the memorial.

To avoid losing the previously generated text, we recommend copying and pasting the text to a secure location. If you wish to save the text, close this window, and copy the text to a secure location. If you are ready to generate a new version of your text, select the ‘Generate Story’ button.

Your current text will be removed

With just a few details from you, our AI-powered writing tool can draft a personalized and meaningful life story in a click.

The Obituary Assistant will take all the content you add to craft the perfect obituary. For the best possible results, please make sure all sections are completely filled out before generating.

Not displayed - used for your notifications only.

Used to display your relationship to {firstName}

Name

Who is this memorial for?

Use our Story templates to highlight a memory or event by adding unique details and a special layout.

New Offering

Create a video slideshow in minutes

Introducing Tribute Videos

Transform your profile page into a Living Memorial to start preserving your own legacy with photos, videos, and more. You can choose to keep your Living Memorial hidden until you’re ready to publish. Have more questions?

Create a Document Story

Enter a document title

Edit a Document Story

Upload an important document that signifies a moment in {firstName}’s life. This will display on your Memorial, so please don’t upload a death certificate, Social Security card, or anything containing sensitive information.

Document Story

What does this document represent?

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave mykeeper.com! (You're welcome to navigate away from this page and do other things on the site, as long as it's on mykeeper.com.)

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave our website.

Preparing your download

Change the name of this album in the field below

Edit the album title

You are creating and/or updating an event in the past.  If this was done in error, cancel and review your changes. 

Event is in the Past

Create an event page to coordinate a gathering in honor of {username}

To permanently remove this event and all corresponding data, select Delete. This cannot be undone.

Do you want to remove this event?

Share a link for guests to access a Virtual or Live Streamed Event

Share the event location to provide guests with directions

Choose if anyone on the internet can see event settings and RSVP options.

Only those with this password can access the event

Event privacy

Event RSVP

Choose if anyone on the internet can see who has RSVP'd to the event.

Guestlist privacy

Describe the event, including dress code, requests, or other important details

Enter important personal and family events like the birth of a child, a marriage, and more.

Select the <star>star icon</star> on a photo or video to display it in the Featured Mementos Section on the Memorial page. You can feature between 3 and 10 items.

Why are you flagging this?

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

Welcome back, {name}

Welcome to {name}

Add a special touch to a memorial by including a beautiful emblem.

Story Title

What would you like to call this storyline?

Need examples? Try "{firstName}'s Life at University" or "A Lifelong Learner."

Add Interests or Milestones

Tell us about {name}'s life

Highlight the important people in {firstName}’s life by adding family members, friends, and more as Loved Ones. To get started, simply add existing {brandName} users and Memorial pages as Loved Ones, or add them manually by entering some basic information.

Section title

Add a map

Add markers to significant places, landmarks, cities, and other locations to create a personalized map that tells part of {firstName}’s life story.

Add a Map Story

What would you like to call this map?

Map Story

Enter a map title

Need ideas? Try something like “Places {firstName} Called Home” or “Favorite Vacation Spots”

Add a memento story

Add up to 100 photos and videos at once to your Memorial. You'll be able to add details, or feature as Stories later, if you like.

Add Mementos

Add Title or Text Story

Mementos are uploaded photos and videos that other users can like and comment on. If you'd like to highlight one of these and tell its story, you can transform them into Stories.

Updating your biography

A consolidated view of all the ways someone can honor the memory of your loved one (send flowers, donations, etc.).

Banner

This option allows users to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by removing the existing Keeper logo from the memorial page. This is particularly useful for those who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Remove Keeper Logo

Memorial Page Configurations

Allows visitors to the memorial page to purchase a tree in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Purchase a Tree

Allows you to show or hide the “Send Gift Basket” button in the memorial page banner, letting you choose how others can honor your loved one’s memory

Send Gift Basket

Allows visitors to the memorial page to send flowers or make donations in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Send Flowers

Sympathy Gifts

This option allows admin/editors the ability to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by showing or hiding the display of  “Sympathy Gift Ideas” on the memorial page. This is particularly useful in assisting families who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Memorial Configurations

Only you can see this page and all its content.

Replace the current background with one that feels right for the memorial.

We couldn’t use this photo. Try a different one.

Memorial Settings

Enhance portrait

Memorial Keepers

This page and all its content is now visible according to your privacy settings.

If added as a Keeper, you'll be able to manage and edit {keeped}’s profile

Request Keeper Access

Send a message to {name}

Check your inbox

The information you have entered will be lost if you close this window.

Are you sure you want to close this window?

Select ‘Submit Obituary’ to complete and publish this obituary, or select ‘Keep Editing’ to include additional information in the obituary.

Ed Wood

Tell us about Ed Wood's life

Add Mementos

Tell us about Ed Wood's life

Add Mementos