USN William H Wood III WWII

USN William Henry Wood, III September 15, 1923 - May 11, 1991

William H. Wood, III was born September 15, 1923 in Derby, Connecticut, to Florence (Schott) Wood and William Henry Wood, Jr. His brother Richard was born 5 years later. Bill enjoyed fishing and hunting with his dad and brother and inherited a love of music from his mother.
After graduating from Ansonia High School, in CT, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1941. He was sent to Pearl Harbor a few weeks after the December 1941 attack and remained there throughout the war. Although he never saw active combat, he helped those airmen in combat by helping to solve the problem of airplanes shooting off their own propellers with front-mounted machine guns, by synchronizing their rotation with the gunfire. He had been trained in the service as a tool design engineer and received an honorable discharge as Aviation Machinist's Mate H, Second Class in October 1945.
After the war Bill went to work for several corporations, that had military contracts, as an engineer. One of the big projects he worked on was the Hubbell Space Telescope.
It was in Hawaii that Bill met Ethel Ann Siebert, a Navy WAVE who worked in his design office. They became engaged shortly after VJ Day, and were married on April 5, 1947 in Long Island, NY. Bill and Ethel moved to Milford, CT and began their family with son Donald, and daughter Susan.
He liked to fish, hike, camp, canoe, and ice skate. He was always busy with his house or car, could fix anything and did things well. He had a strong sense of justice and honor. And would help anyone anytime, taking no credit for the work. His sense of humor and love of a good (harmless) prank jived perfectly with his wife's, and the family shared lots of laughter through the years.
When Bill and Ethel moved south to the Smoky Mountains, he continued work as a tool designer, and upon retirement they built a home on High Knob Mountain in northern Virginia. He and Ethel visited Hawaii after he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1988. One of the highlights of that trip was a glider ride over the islands. After several years of treatment, he entered hospice care in 1991. He died at home in Front Royal Virginia with his wife at his side on May 11, 1991.