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| Pictured here are Ed Wood, Ed Wood, Ed Wood, Ed Wood, Ed Wood, and Ed Wood. (Not pictured: Ed Wood.) |
When searching for traces of our Eddie in archival records, the Wood-fan can be misled by published notices concerning more than a dozen other contemporaneous "Ed Wood, Jrs." that were roaming the American landscape. Three of these red herrings even had the unparalleled effrontery to be known as Edward D. Wood, Jr.! For the aid of fellow Wood researchers, I provide this abridged guide to the other juniors.
Edward [middle name?] Wood, Jr. – Lightweight-class Golden Gloves boxer associated with the Catholic Youth Organization [CYO] in Honolulu, HI (1948).
Edward A. Wood, Jr. – 23 December 1927 (Oneonta, NY) – 6 April 1974 (Punta Gorda, FL); registered for draft at Punta Gorda, FL (December 1945); graduated from Lee Bible College in Sevierville, TN (1947); evaluated for draft at Fort Myers, FL (1948); minister and Sears Roebuck employee at Fort Myers, FL (1949); training at International Preparatory Institute in San Antonio, TX and missionary work in Mexico (1951); inducted into armed forces (June 1953); demobilized to Texas; returned to Punta Gorda, FL (1964/68); worked as hotel desk clerk; murdered/savagely beaten beyond recognition (1974); killer charged with 1st degree murder; charge reduced to 2nd degree murder; state asked for life imprisonment – judge sentenced killer to 10 years’ probation (1974).
Edward Daniel Wood, Jr. – 10 February 1919 (Gloucester, NJ) – 23 November 2000 (Philadelphia, PA); married Elizabeth M. Mail (1942) and had at least two sons.
Edward Day Wood, Jr. – 22 December 1926 (Tampa, FL) – 16 March 2008 (Dade City, FL); served in US Navy during WW2; married Dorothy Jean Gay (1947) and had children, including an Edward Day Wood, III; attended Georgia Institute of Technology (1949-1952).
Edward Dwight Wood, Jr. – 21 March 1926 (Pittsfield, MA) – 13 December 1983 (Pittsfield, MA); served in the US Navy during WW2; no evidence of marriage, but apparently had at least one son (Edward Dwight Wood, III).
Edward Everett Wood, Jr. – 18 May 1924 (Canandaigua, NY) – 14 May 2017 (Canandaigua, NY); married Mary Jane Rozell (1950) and had two children; worked for 39 years with the NY Dairy Herd Improvement program through Cornell University; Town Councilman, Volunteer Fireman and Justice of the Peace for Hopewell, NY.
Edward Fenton Wood, Jr. – 15 August 1917 (Atlantic City, NJ) – 28 October 1973 (Sutton, VT); served in US Army Air Forces in WW2 (1942-1946); married Josephine L. Cook (1917-1973) and had two sons; worked as a farmer; Ed, his wife and one son apparently killed in car wreck (1973). [Note: Ed Jr. was buried as and sometimes referred to as Sr. despite having the same name as his father. Ed’s son (Edward Fenton Wood, III) is also referred to as Jr.]
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| (left to right) Edward Day Wood, Jr.; Edward A. Wood, Jr. Edward F. Wood, Jr. |
Edward Francis Wood, Jr. – 7 May 1905 (Locust Valley, NY) – 3 January 1976 (Broward, FL); married Mabel Luyster (1933) and had one son (Edward Francis Wood, III); lived variously in Nassau County, NY; President of Luyster Motors in Glen Cove, NY; sport-fisherman.
Edward Huffman/Huffner Wood, Jr. – 25 December 1927 (San Antonio, Texas) – 12 April 2000 (Marysville, CA); grew up in Texas and California; served with the U.S. Army in the China-Burma-India Theater (1946-1947); married Elizabeth Isabella Symonds (1948) and apparently had at least one daughter; lived in Yuba City, CA (1957). [Note: For unexplained reasons, both Ed and his father are variously given the middle names of Huffman and Huffner in official records.]
Edward J. Wood, Jr. – 26 September 1899 (St. Louis, MO) – 28 October 1961 (St. Louis, MO); worked as a government clerk/inspector; married Aurene M. Rogers and had children; lived in the St. Louis, Missouri area his entire life.
Edward M. Wood, Jr. – 2 May 1918 (Spring Hill, IA) – 18 June 2018 (Indianola, IA); life-long farmer; enlisted in US Army (1942); married Esther McCaughey Blackford (Nov 1947) and had two daughters; second marriage to Mary Carmichael after Esther passed away. [Note: Ed is sometimes listed as Jr. despite having different middle name than his father (Edward R. Wood).]
Edward Orvice Wood, Jr. – 28 June 1922 (Maine) – 26 September 1994 (Framingham, MA); served as a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps with service in the Pacific Theater; student at University of Connecticut and married Vera Catherine Lascari (1947) and had two daughters; later lived in Waltham and Framingham, Massachusetts.
Edward Sharpless Wood, Jr. – 1 February 1904 (Riverton, NJ) – 9 May 1959 (Philadelphia, PA); graduated from Haverford College (1926), married Frances Garrett Williams (1927) and had two children; teacher and photographer; lived variously in Cinnaminson, NJ, Philadelphia area, and Middlesex/Watertown, MA.
Edward Vernon Wood, Jr. – 25 February 1933 (Fort Worth, TX) – 24 October 2003 (Plano, TX); service in US Coast Guard (1955-1958); married Patsy Nell Dunnavant (1961) and had two children; divorced (1978).
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| (left to right) Edward M. Wood, Jr.; Edward Sharpless Wood, Jr.; Edward V. Wood, Jr. |
Edward Watson Wood, Jr. – 12 December 1924 (Florence, AL) – 12 April 2021 (Denver, CO); grew up in Alabama and Illinois; served in US Army during WW2 and was severely wounded; received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago (1947); attended Northwestern University and Stanford; married Alma Ward in Palo Alto, CA (1949); joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers); moved to Connecticut and had 3 children; attended University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology becoming a city planner; later divorced and relocated to Denver; left corporate life and began writing full time exploring what had happened to him as a 19-year-old in combat in an effort to free himself from years of PTSD; resulted in four books - Sleeping Brook, On Being Wounded, Beyond The Weapons Of Our Fathers, and Worshipping The Myths Of World War II.
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| Edward Watson Wood, Jr. and the cover of one of his four books. |