Mary Margaret Wood, age 84, of Battle Creek, passed away peacefully on July 30th, 2017 at her residence with her loving family at her side. She was born October 10, 1932 in Burr Oak, Michigan, the daughter of Glen and Margret (Straus) Smith. She married the love of her life, Melvin Wood, on March 31, 1951.
She was preceded in death by a son, Terrance Allan Wood; a great grandson, Kieffer Johnson; brothers: Paul Smith, Mike Smith and Jack Smith; and a sister: Sarah Nabozny.
Mary is survived by her husband along with seven children: Judy (Kurt) Miller of Bay City, Glen (Cindy) Wood of Nicholasville, KY, John (Diane) Wood of Battle Creek, Margaret (Tom) Hurst of Marshall, Tim (Tara) Wood, Tom (Lori) Wood and Cathy Wood-Andrews all of Battle Creek; 20 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Gert (Marvin) Reed of Brownsville, TN, sisters-in-law Mary Ann Smith of Sturgis, MI and Claribel DeVries of Buffalo Center, IA, and many nieces and nephews.
In high school Mary played basketball, was a cheerleader, played drums in the band and loved to ride rollercoasters. Mary was one of the founding members of St. Jerome parish and was active in the Women’s League and worked many Bingo nights over the years.
After raising her children, Mary worked as a teacher’s aide at Level Park Elementary for special education students. Mary also worked as a house keeper at the St. Jerome rectory for Father Palmer. She and Mel spent many winters in Zephyrhills, FL and entertained visiting family and friends. She enjoyed square dancing, shuffle-board, playing in the “kitchen band”, camping, trips to Iowa, Binder Park outings and working on arts and crafts. She enjoyed spending time with her family in their many activities and going to all the family outings. Mary also enjoyed playing cards and watching Tiger baseball.
The family will receive friends at the Baxter Funeral Home, 375 W. Dickman Road on Wednesday, August 2nd from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a rosary at 7:00 p.m. A funeral mass celebrating her life will be held at 12:00 p.m. August 3rd, 2017 at St. Jerome Catholic Church, 229 Collier Ave., with Fr. Jose Haro officiating. Interment will follow at a later date.
Pallbearers are grandsons: Terry, Chris and Jake Wood, Devin Hurst, Brevyn Andrews and Isaiah Juarez.
Special thanks to the staffs of Lakeview Assisted Living and Great Lakes Hospice. The family requests that memorial contributions be directed to St. Jerome building fund or to the Kieffer G. Johnson Memorial Fund at the Battle Creek Community Foundation.