A longtime Gainesville insurance executive, who also served 23 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, has died.
Joe T. Wood, Sr. was 96.
Wood was a veteran of World War II and was active for many years in the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a former state commander of the VFW.
Wood started in the insurance business in 1951 joining Paul Turner and formed Turner and Wood Insurance Agency which was the successor of the Whitworth Agency that started in Lula in 1905. The firm is now known as Turner, Wood & Smith Insurance Agency. Wood served as President and Chairman until 2004 but remained an employee until his death.
Wood was a member of the state House from 1966-1989. He was chairman of the Defense and Veterans Affair Committee for many years and the legislature recognized his commitment to veterans by naming a 150-bed nursing home for veterans the "Joe T. Wood Building."
Wood was a member of the House Appropriations Committee for 18 years and helped secure funding for Gainesville College (now a part of the University of North Georgia), Lanier Technical College, and I-985. After his retirement from the General Assembly, he served for 20 years as a legislative consultant to the Medical Association of Georgia.
In addition to his career in insurance, his military service and his service in the state House, Wood was active in a number of community agencies such as United Way, the Salvation Army, and the American Cancer Society He was also a member of Chicopee Baptist Church for more than 75 years.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 Tuesday at Chicopee Baptist Church.
(A full obituary is available on the AccessWDUN Obituaries Page.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/4/788988/joe-t-wood-sr-longtime-gainesville-insurance-executive-former-state-house-member-dies