James Allen Wood

James Allen Wood died peacefully at his home in Arlington with his wife Nancy by his side on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. He was 85 years old. MEMORIAL SERVICE 1:00 pm, Saturday, February 10, at Wade Family Funeral Home, 4140 West Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, Texas. Interment will immediately follow the service at Hawkins Cemetery, 5301 Northbound Access Road, Hwy 287, Arlington. Memorials for James A. Wood may be made to support student services at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, PO Box 19198, Arlington, TX 76019 or at https://giving.uta.edu/Give . James Wood was the only child of Albert Bailey Wood and Marie Coughlin Wood. He was born on September 25, 1932 in Chicago, and grew up during the Great Depression in small towns and ranches across Colorado, Montana, and Oregon where his mother taught grade school and his father worked in newspaper advertising, ranching, and prospecting. He obtained his bachelor's degree in political science at Willamette University and obtained his doctorate in Speech and Drama at Cornell University. In his 45-year career as a college professor, he coached debate, published the college textbook Speaking Effectively, and taught several thousand students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in subjects that included Public Speaking, Organizational Communication, Classical Rhetoric, Film Studies, and Film Making at the University of Oregon, Cornell University, Rutgers University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Texas at Arlington, and Texas Christian University. At the age of 66 he embarked on a second career writing fiction. He enjoyed attending writers conferences and belonging to The Writers Group of Fort Worth. He published short stories and the novel The Odd One. He also enjoyed frequent visits with his children and grandchildren, and traveling widely through the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East with his wife and their friends. James is dearly missed by his wife of 61 years, Nancy Wood, and his three sons, Samuel Chatham Wood, with his wife Bingxi, of Cupertino, California, David Webster Wood, with his wife Izabela, of Columbus, Ohio, and Joseph Tullius Wood, with his wife Gretchen, of Houston, Texas. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Thomas, William, Virginia, Allison, Margaret, and Elizabeth. The family is grateful for the loving care provided to James and Nancy during James' last months by his caregivers Monica Odhiambo, Christine Kelley, Mary Agwa, and Winnie Okhako. The family is also thankful for the Allstar Hospice staff, particularly Sheila Burcham, who kept James so comfortable, and Lupe Aguilera who prayed with Nancy and James as he drew his final breath. Wade Family Funeral Home 817-274-9233