Wood Funeral Service Held Here Sunday
Death of Hugo's Cemetery Board Head Unexpected
Funeral services for E.M. (Mack) Wood, 77 year old superintendent of Mt. Olivet cemetery here, were conducted Sunday afternoon at First Baptist church by Dr. J. Frank Murrell, of Muskogee, former pastor of the Hugo church.
Members of Hugo Lodge No. 217, A.F. and A.M. of which Mr. Wood was a charter and an honorary life member, were in charge of committal rites in Mt. Olivet cemetery. Campbell Funeral home was in charge of arrangements.
Death of Mr. Wood, which was unexpected,
occurred at his home here about 4 o'clock Friday morning.
Mack Wood was born September 16, 1875, in Pike county, Mo., the oldest of eight children born to J.W. Wood and Elizabeth Wood. His father died when he was a boy, and in addition to educating himself he aided his mother in rearing and educating the other seven children.
He came to Oklahoma in 1903 to work on the Madill and Denison line of the Frisco railway construction job. John Daugherty later asked for his transfer to Hugo to head a construction gang. The Frisco agreed and Mr. Wood moved to Hugo, making the trip via Monett because there was no bridge over Boggy river then.
About that time, on June 22, 1905, he married Miss Janie Means, of Hugo, in Paris. It was necessary to go to Paris to obtain a marriage license, since they were not issued here in those days. They moved to Bennington a few days later, and Mr. Wood supervised a section crew there. They returned to Hugo when that job ended and moved into one of the three houses they were to occupy here. They lived 31 years in the
house in which Mr. Wood passed away.
Three children were born to them; Mrs. Lola Boyce, of Warren, Ark.; the late Johnnie Wood, who died in 1930; and Donald Wood, of Hugo. They have six grandchildren.
In 1910 Mr. Wood quit his railroad job. Twenty days later Jim Means, his wife's brother, who had been railroading around Memphis, Tenn., arrived in Hugo, and the two began negotiations to buy the bottling works operated here by Jim Graves. The two young fellows had worked hard and saved their money, but they found they still lacked $1,100. Wood went to the late J.H. Jackson, banker here, and told him his troubles. Mr. Jackson was sympathetic to the ambitious pair but turned the loan down. "Not enough collateral," he said. The next day the bank opened with Mr. Wood there again to tell his story the second time. The answer was the same. In later years Mr. Wood would laugh and say that on the third day the banker's resistance was broken, and the $1,100 was obtained. The banker declared "There still is not enough collateral, but I believe you boys are honest and eventually will get this paid." The loan was paid in full within 60 days, Mr. Wood would add.
The Hugo Bottling Works,
[unreadable] they named their business, was operated from 1910 until 1930 without a change in the partnership. Then the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Wood taking the division wholesaling
tobaccos and candies, and Mr. Means the bottling division. Four years later, on
[transcriber's note; either March or May, text is unreadable] 1, 1934, Mr. Wood sold his business to J. Homer
Coggins.
Mr. Wood had been a member of First Baptist church for many years, serving [unreadable] board of deacons for a long time. At the time of his death he was church treasurer, a responsibility he had carried 14 years.
In addition to being an honorary life member of the Hugo Masonic lodge, in which he had held several offices, Mr. Wood was a member of Indian Consistory, McAlester and of Hugo chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, of which he was [a] past patron.
Hugo Lodge No. 133 of the Indian Territory conferred the master mason degree on Mr. Wood on August 2, 1907. When the Territory and Oklahoma lodges were
consolidated in 1909, and Hugo Lodge No. 217 succeeded No. 133, Mr. Wood was named as one of its charter members. In recognition of the membership and long and faithful service to Masonry, the Hugo lodge presented him with a life membership on May 22, 1945.
Hugo Chapter 211, Order of the Eastern Star, also made Mr. Wood a life member, choosing his 77th birthday, September 16, of the year, for the presentation. In Eastern Star work he held a record of seldom missing a meeting.
In 1935 Mr. Wood was asked to take the chairmanship of the board of trustees of Mount Olivet cemetery, owned by the city of Hugo. He continued as chairman, devoting his entire working time to the business operation and beautification of the cemetery, until his death.
As a result of his management and improvement, Hugo is said to have one of the most beautiful small town cemeteries in the Southwest.
In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Wood is survived by four brothers, L.H. Wood, Kinderpost, Mo.; A.L. Wood and Homer Wood, Seattle, Wash., and Frank Wood, Los Angeles; two sisters, Mrs. Billie Mobley and Mrs. Cris Mobley, both of Los Angeles.
Pallbearers at Sunday's service were W.C. Henry, Hershel Bright, Ralph Marshall, Mayor W.P. Patterson, Richard Biard and Charles
Nease.
A postscript to the Obituary by E.M. DeWeese
A Good and Faithful Servant
HUGO LOST one of its most valuable citizens in the passing of Mack Wood.
He was devoted to his family. He served his church and his lodge long and faithfully. As superintendent of Mr. Olivet cemetery for 17 years he performed outstanding service. Few towns of Hugo's size have cemeteries which compare even favorably with it.
He did his duty as he saw it. No man can do more.
