In tribute: Flying enthusiast kept busy with models, teaching

CLOVIS - Charles Wood flew for his enjoyment for nearly half a century as a model airplane enthusiast. And he flew for his country with 20 years in the Air Force.

The former, he could discuss for hours on end at the Main Street hobby shop he owned for years. The latter, good luck getting a word out of him.

"He never embellished," friend Michael Braun said of Wood's two tours in Vietnam. "You really had to work at it to get him to talk about it. He wasn't like some of the fighter jocks who would just live their lives over and over. Chuck Wood was a true American hero to me."

Wood, who also taught at various local schools, died Nov. 14 after 19 days of treatment for COVID-19.

Born Dec. 18, 1934 in Rockport, Massachusetts, Wood's interest in flying took him into the Air Force - and, by proxy, across the nation and world.

One of his worst flights, an F-100 crash, actually turned into a positive because his treatment was handled by Ione Herzog, an Air Force nurse.

Ione thought Chuck was a nice guy, and she agreed to a date because he was persistent. A first date with a show on the Las Vegas strip turned into 65 years of marriage, two kids and six grandkids.

"He was always watching out for people," Ione said, "mainly me and the kids."

Every year around this time, the couple had a string of celebrations - his birthday Dec. 18, their anniversary Dec. 20, Christmas Day and her birthday Jan. 5.

After his military retirement, Wood went to Eastern New Mexico University and became a teacher. His son Brian Wood, who lives in Houston, said his father's specialty was math and he taught fifth grade in Melrose for a few years along with substitute duty at various schools.

Brian said he was only a student of his father's one time during a substitute job. "I think that was the one day," he joked, "I brought a book and paper to class."

Wood also found plenty of time for hobbies, between model airplanes and automobiles. He purchased the Trains and Things model store on Main Street, and operated it as Zia Model. The business was never a cash cow, but made more than enough to pay the bills and provide a social outlet for train and model enthusiasts.

Michael Muraco met Wood in 1988 through Clovis' Model Airplane Drivers Society, and remembered Wood as quite the model enthusiast. When Muraco joined the American Model Association, his member number was 404233. Chuck's was 552.

The first car Muraco rebuilt at his Ultraworks body shop was a 1947 Jeep for Wood in 2000. The shop also worked on a 1954 Chevy and a 1937 Chevy and was helping with a 1951 Crosley when Wood died.

"He liked that Jeep," Muraco said. "He drove it a bunch. He put about 30,000 miles on it. He didn't want a radio in there. Ione made us put a power cord in there so she could listen to her iPod."

Wood was a reliable participant in Saturday breakfasts and Bill's Jumbo Burger, dating back to its time on the 500 block of Main Street, and would always put in extra hours to set up and take down Desert Cruzers car shows.

He walked every day, worked out at the Clovis Community College gym when he could and felt fortunate to have good health most of his life as he outlived every other male in his family by 20 years.

Chuck never held a grudge, but "he'd give you that look" and you knew you'd gotten on his bad side, Muraco said.

"Chuck was Chuck," Braun said. "What you see was what you get. I loved the guy. I really did."