Doris Wood

Doris Aline McGill Wood, born December 15,1913, in Lampasas, Texas, died at her home in Killeen on November 30, 2007. With the exception of a few years of college and one year of teaching, she was a resident of Killeen her entire life. She was also a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church. Her teaching career spanned 29 years, 28 of them in the Killeen public schools. On her retirement she was honored by the Killeen Independent School District for her years of service.

Doris was born into a pre-World War II Killeen of dusty, unpaved streets that she and her sisters walked delivering milk for her parents, Vivian and Willard McGill, who owned a dairy. She was recognized throughout her childhood as the eldest of the well known, beautiful, and charming McGill sisters. That sisterhood was to provide a central family focal point for generations to follow, and Dorisquiet presence would maintain a reliable center for the large family as it grew and moved to other places.

After graduating from Killeen High School in 1931, Doris and her sister, Dosca Dot, moved to Houston where they stayed with aunts and attended the then 20-year-old fledging private college called Rice Institute. She remained a loyal Owl throughout her life. Rice did not offer courses in education, so Doris took classes at the University of Houston to qualify for teaching certification. She graduated with a degree in English and History and accepted her first teaching position in Troy, Texas, teaching History and Spanish. The life of a teacher was restricted, including requirements that she was not to entertain gentleman visitors during the school week, and that, should she marry, her contract would be terminated. Despite these restrictions, D. L. Wood, Jr., a classmate from Killeen High School, wooed her, won her hand, and they married June 15, 1936.

D. L. Wood was involved in the family drug store business, and he and Doris lived in Killeen where their three children, Rachel Adeline June 28, 1937, Daniel Lee August 20, 1944 and Donald Everett October 31, 1949 were born and raised. Doris and D.L. were married until his death in 1977.

Although a married woman was not allowed to work as a full time teacher, the school system in Killeen was in need. Doris began teaching a few classes, and by gradually adding courses, advanced to a full-time teaching. The demands on a mother who also taught English classes in which nightly paper grading was a ritual, were great. Nevertheless, Doris was active in the civic life of the community and in the womens groups that marked the social changes of the Post World War II era. She continued a family tradition of membership and leadership in the Wednesday Review Club, served in many capacities at the Methodist Church including service on the Finance Committee and serving as a delegate to Annual Conference. At its centennial celebration, she was recognized as a 50-year member of the church. In her retirement she served on the steering committee that created the book, The Unforgettable Decade: Killeen and Trade Area 1930-1939.

Doris enjoyed travel, visiting Austria, Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and China in trips with friends and family. Following her mothers example, she managed her affairs into her 90s, including ownership and rental of a building downtown that housed the YMCA. She enjoyed the coast, and trips to Galveston were among her happiest times.
PMore than anything, however, she enjoye

Visitation

HarperTalasek Chapel
506 N. 38th Street
Killeen, TX  76543
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
6 PM to 8 PM

Service

Funeral Service

First United Methodist Church
506 N Gray St
Killeen, TX  76541
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
2:00 PM

Cemetery

Killeen Memorial ParkHa
3600 Lake Rd.
Killeen, TX  76543

Memorial Contributions

First United Methodist Church
506 N Gray St
Killeen, TX  76541