Wood, Walter Amos III 1955 - 2001

WOOD, ZIRBEL

Posted By: Pat Ludeke (email)
Date: 5/20/2013 at 23:29:39

WALTER AMOS WOOD III
CLEAR LAKE - The funeral for Walter Amos Wood III, 5125 South Shore Drive, Clear Lake, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, 508 Second Ave. N., Clear Lake.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. Fourth St.
Walter was born to W. Amos and Rachel (Zirbel) Wood on Aug. 21, 1955, and grew up on their farm south of Clear Lake. There he was a vital part of the family that built the Wood Family Farm operations during the '60s and '70s. He excelled in school, especially in math and calculus courses, at Clear Lake and later at the University of Iowa, where he studied engineering. Walter was a free spirit, a deep thinker and as he grew older, had many adventures on his own. He loved to bicycle and has participated in RAGBRAI several times and once pedaled back from California to Clear Lake in 19 days. Another time he roamed the East Coast on his bicycle and discovered New York was not to his liking. Walter always returned to Clear Lake eventually.
His death on Jan. 23, 2001, is mourned by his father and mother; brother, Dan and wife, Wendy, and their children, Joslyn and Austin, of rural Garner; brother, Roger, of Osceola, and his children, Jennifer, Jacob and Millie Marie; and his sister, Dianne Bojorquez, and husband, Abel, of Clear Lake, and their children, Alex and Gracie. Walter was also loved by numerous aunts and uncles and 40-plus cousins.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Walter and Alma Wood, and maternal grandparents, Alfred and Ruth Zirbel.
The family respectfully requests memorials for Walter be given to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Colonial Place Three, 2107 Wilson Blvd. - Third Floor, Arlington, VA 22201.
Meanwhile, Walter is on his bike pedaling down a smooth path in Heaven with the wind at his back, free of turmoil at last. Psalm 142.
Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, (641) 357-2193