Wood, Dr. Dennis L.

WOOD, HILL, WELSCH

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 5/16/2010 at 16:20:32

The Grinnell Herald-Register (Grinnell, Iowa) Dec. 25 & 28, 2006

DR. DENNIS L. WOOD

Dr. Dennis L. Wood, 49, of Los Angeles, Calif., and formerly of Grinnell died Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, at his home.

Funeral services for Dennis L. Wood will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 30, at the First Baptist Church in Marshalltown, with Pastor Conrad Lundberg officiating. Friends may call at the church, at 100 E. Olive St. in Marshalltown, an hour prior to the services. He will be interred in the Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.

A memorial service is being planned for early January in Los Angeles. Arrangements are also being made for a medical lecture series in his name and for his art collection to be displayed in his honor. Memorials may be donated for an endowment to be established in his memory.

The son of Everett and Rozella Wood (formerly of Grinnell and currently of Marshalltown), he was baptized in and attended the First Baptist Church in Grinnell. He graduated from Grinnell High School in 1976, as valedictorian of his high school class. He had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout from Grinnell's Troop No. 347 of the Boy Scouts of America. He also coordinated a campaign in central Iowa to encourage people not to smoke and entertained children by performing magic.

He continued his education at Stanford University of California's San Diego Medical School, from which he graduated with honors in 1983. He finished his general surgery training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1989.

He had been in private practice for general surgery in Beverly Hills, Calif., since 1989. He served on numerous hospital and medical group committees, such as Clinical Chief of the Department of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai and as Chief of the Division of General Surgery.

He was awarded the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching young surgeons in 2001 and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation Physician of the Year Award in 2005.

One of his colleagues wrote, "I don't have to tell you that Dennis Wood is one of the nicest human beings God ever made. He was kind beyond anyone's imagination and basically cared about everyone he ever came into contact with. He served this community, his patients, his colleagues, Cedars-Sinai and his beloved Medical Group with the greatest distinction, warmth and love. He is irreplaceable and I only hope that we can all take comfort in knowing that he never suffered."

He is survived by his parents; two sisters, Judy Hill of Marshalltown and Joye Welsch of Glenview, Ill.; two nephews; a niece, and his grand-nieces and nephew.

Condolences for the family may be left at the funeral home's web site, www.mitchellfh.com

NOTE: Another obituary appeared in the Marshalltown Times-Republican and stated:
"Dr. Wood graduated from Grinnell High School in 1975, Stanford University with honors in 1979, and the University of California San Diego Medical School with honors in 1983."