Robert Douglas Wood Sr., 85
Doug Wood was born June 20, 1938, in Butte, Mont., to Bob and Mary Wood who owned the Peacock Inn. Doug's maternal grandfather, Andrew Kujawa was a copper miner there. In 1950, they moved to the Post Falls, Idaho, area when Doug was 12 years old, where his father was a locomotive engineer. His paternal grandfather was millionaire John Thompson who owned the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis. Doug was a star athlete at Post Falls High School and played college football on a scholarship.
When Doug was 21, he met the love of his life and married a beautiful prom queen and Blackfeet Indian princess, Carole Hale. She was the second great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, whose 1,500 people were ordered to be exterminated by General William Tecumseh Sherman in Montana in 1870. Doug and Carole had three children who were the apple of their eyes, Ms. Kellie Wood, Robert Douglas Wood Jr. (Bobby), and David who survive him.
Carole assisted her husband through pilot training by helping him with his fighter instruction manuals almost every evening along with caring for their three young children. It certainly was a team effort. They proudly watched their father graduate from fighter pilot training in Chandler, Arizona in 1963 and she assisted him in becoming an airline pilot. The marriage was later dissolved. He later married Karen Anne Brueher and had two more daughters, Jennifer and Corinna. His third marriage was to Sheila Dianne Halliday.
He was a fighter pilot at Fairchild AFB for 20 years and simultaneously flew 747 Jumbo Jets for Northwest Orient Airlines for 33 years. The FAA deemed him to be the highest qualified pilot in the country during the height of his career. He was the flight commander for the KC-135 Stratotankers that refueled jets in midair. He was also an avid softball player most of his adult life on 3rd base and he owned the Astros softball team, which he played on and won many regional championships. His loving children always accompanied him on his tournaments.
He was loved and respected by his children and many friends. We love you, "Big Daddy-O." See you on the other side in Heaven.
Funeral services were held earlier this month.
