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Memorial forRev. R Stewart Wood, Jr.July 30, 2023Hanover , NH - The Rt. Rev. R Stewart Wood, Jr., “Stew” to all his friends and colleagues, died on July 30, 2023, after a long and deeply satisfying life. He enjoyed high school sports and theater and experienced an eye-opening education at Dartmouth College, Virginia Theological Seminary, Ball State University and most recently continuing education courses at Osher. As a clergyman, he had the chance to serve in rural as well as urban settings before being elected bishop in the Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Michigan in 1988. Social justice issues dominated his ministry. Poverty, the war in Vietnam, the problems created by the limits on low and moderate income housing for those living on substandard salaries, and racial and gender injustice were the interests that lled his working days and retirement. Always modest, it would be left to others to acknowledge Stew’s important leadership on social justice issues in the Church, and his signicant contribution to the changes which allowed rst women, and later gay and lesbian persons, to be ordained.Stew and Kristin Lie Miller were married in June of 1955. They spent Stew’s last year of college and his three years of seminary together before starting a family. Seventeen years in the Diocese of Indianapolis serving congregations and a social service agency preceded eight years in Glendale Ohio and four years in Memphis, Tennessee. His last 12 years of active ministry in the Church were spent as Bishop of Michigan. He described this role as seeking to be a pastor to pastors and to congregations as the Church sought to make a real dierence with the issues of the day while experiencing the frustration of shrinking membership and dwindling resources. He never feared exposing his feelings. Stirred by the scripture he sought to share in his preaching, he was frequently moved to tears.Late in life, Stew was diagnosed with learning disabilities which explained why he struggled throughout his formal education. He nonetheless delighted in his participation in a men’s summer book club in retirement, and was a voracious reader. Golf lled those springs, summers and falls while tennis gave his winters some indoor activity. He often spoke of his treasured memories of playing golf with his dad and the steak sandwich that followed in the “19th hole.” In his “retirement,” Stew was active with The Haven, a service center for the homeless in White River Junction, Vermont, The Vermont Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Osher, Dartmouth’s continuing education program, and the activities of the resident community at Kendal at Hanover N.H. All of these brought him great satisfaction. Those he served cherished his leadership.When Stew was in a room, he lled it. He had an engaging smile, and he laughed easily. He genuinely enjoyed meeting and listening to people. His daughter Lisa remembers having her Dad accompany her to doctor’s or dentist’s appointments, and how Stew loved to engage There will be a Memorial Service on September 9, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.Rollins Chapel 29 College Street Hanover, NH
with oce sta or others in the waiting room. This interest in engaging with others stayed with him throughout his life. When he talked with you, he really listened.Stew is predeceased by his parents, Raymond Wood and Marjorie Campbell Hindman, his sister Joan Atkinson Kay of Vero Beach Florida, and earlier this year his wife Kristin of Hanover, NH. He is survived by their daughter, Lisa Cameron Wood, her husband Peter Michelson, and their daughters, Marisa and Abigail; Raymond S Wood, III and his wife, Mary Anne and their children: R Stewart Wood, IV, Anna and Henry: and, their son, Michael Andrew Wood, and his wife Denise and their children Noah, Devon and Sydney.Stew talked about “looking into the cross,” and trying to discern what God intended us to do to help others. He was joined in this by his wife, Kristin. Together, they loved and supported each other through 67 years of marriage, in full lives devoted to God and the service of others.A memorial service is scheduled for 1 PM on September 9, 2023, at Rollins Chapel in Hanover, NH. In lieu of owers, donations can be made in Stew’s honor to a charity devoted to the social justice issues important to him. Below are a few dierent possibilities for donations in his honor incase you would like to support something near and dear to his heart. The rst one relates to a scholarship fund that his son, Ray Wood, set up in his Dad’s name several years back. You may know that Ray was in the class of ’84, and his son, Stewart Wood, was in the class of ’18. The others are suggestions Stew made before his death. 1. Dartmouth College Gift Recording Oce 6066 Development Oce Hanover, NH 03755-4400 Memo: Wood Family Scholarship Fund2. The Southern Poverty Law Center Tel: 1-334-956-8408 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST3. The Episcopal Dioceses of Michigan Mark Miliotto, Canon for Finance and CFO, at mmiliotto@edomi.org or 1-313-833-44274. The Episcopal Diocese of Vermont 5 Rock Point Rd Burlington, VT 05408 - 2737 Tel: (802) 863-34315. The Episcopal Church of New Hampshire 63 Green Street, Concord, NH 03301 Tel: (603) 224-1914Memorial forRev. R Stewart Wood, Jr.July 30, 2023