Jessie Wood

GRAVESIDE SERVICE: 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, November 10, 2015, at White Point Cemetery in Comanche County. VISITATION: Family will receive friends at Comanche Funeral Home from 6:00 P.M. until 7:30 P.M. on Monday, November 9. Jessie Eli “Red” Wood, age 80, passed away on Friday, November 6, 2015, in Comanche County, Texas. He was born on April 14, 1935, in Big Spring, Texas, to Joe F. Wood and Vida Mae (Satterwhite) Wood. On October 25, 1953, he was united in marriage to Mary K. Weems in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Red had an interesting and varied life. He worked in the oil drilling industry in his early years and later he and Mary managed, and later owned, a fishing resort in Gunnison, Colorado. He was a licensed Guide and Outfitter and, together with his son Kenny, operated a successful guide business for twenty years. He also became a licensed construction contractor, and he and Kenny built numerous homes in Colorado. After a brief retirement, he convinced Mary to move to South Texas to work in game management, and during this time spent ten years serving on the Board of Directors of the Texas Wildlife Association. Red retired and began making knives in his spare time. This became a thriving business and he and Mary attended many wildlife conventions, where they sold his beautiful knives. His proudest moment was being asked to make knives for the Show of Support program for Wounded Warriers. He is survived by his loving wife, Mary Kathryn Weems Wood of Zephyr, son, Joe Kenneth Wood and wife, Martha, of Junction, Texas, daughters Janna Austin and husband, Rick, of Cross Plains, Texas, and Judy Lease of Hilliard, Ohio. He is also survived by six grandsons, Douglas Austin, Bradley Austin, Aaron Eli Austin, Collin Wood, Matthew Lease, and Joe Wood, granddaughter Katie Lease, and four great-grandchildren, Kailee, Eli, Clara, and Hazel Austin. Red is preceded in death by his parents, great-grandson Noah Red Austin, and son-in-law, Kim Lease.