4Cs Founding Member, Rosemary Wood, Dies at 89
04/06/2010 -
Rosemary Wood
By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 5:23 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 5:23 p.m.
Rosemary Wood held fast to the ideas that children should be given every opportunity to learn and that a helping hand should be extended to the less fortunate among us.
Some found Wood brash, or a tad too opinionated.
“But they respected her because she stood up for what she thought was right,” said her daughter, Elizabeth Turner of Santa Rosa.
Wood, who had battled cancer for 20 years, died of the disease March 26 at Summerfield Skilled Nursing in Santa Rosa. She was 89.
Wood was a formidable thinker and debater whose opinions were informed by her considerable educational background and voracious reading habits. She attended classes at UC Berkeley, the University of Nevada and was one of the first students to enroll at Sonoma State University. She held dual master’s degrees, one in counseling.
She devoured the classics, philosophy, mysteries and tales of espionage and political intrigue. “She was a reasoner, a thinker and a manipulator,” Turner said affectionately.
And she had a big heart.
In addition to being a founding member of Head Start and 4C’s in Santa Rosa, Wood ran Kids Krossing, a business specializing in helping children who had emotional or developmental challenges.
Rosemary Harrington was born on Sept. 17, 1920 at Santa Rosa General Hospital. Her family lived in Hopland and then in Calistoga, where she graduated from high school.
She met and married Alvin Wood. The couple lived in Las Vegas and New Mexico before settling in Santa Rosa for good in the early 1950s.
Rosemary Wood enjoyed staying close to home. But she relished a trip to Ireland with two of her daughters after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Wood never letting the disease interfere with her passion for learning. She resumed playing the clarinet later in life and at Summerfield taught English to Spanish-speakers.
Wood is survived by three daughters, Kathryn Luisetti of Roseville, Elizabeth Turner of Santa Rosa and Patricia Dion of San Jose.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. April 9 at Neptune Society of California in Santa Rosa.
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