Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
In a world that often seems to focus on the loudest voice or the most outrageous claim, it has been immensely heartwarming this week to see the outpouring of love for the passing of a Portales man who was remembered with words like these: Kind. Gentle. Humble. Someone who found the good in everyone he met.
Thankfully, Bill Wood, who died July 27 at the age of 85, met a lot of us along the way.
Even if you weren’t fortunate enough to know him, odds are you’ve seen him at a piano or organ keyboard at a wedding, funeral, or church service in eastern New Mexico.
If you’ve been enchanted by local bell ringers, you owe a nod of gratitude to Bill Wood as well.
He started a handbell choir at First United Methodist Church in Portales more than four decades ago and founded the Eastern New Mexico Handbell Festival in 1993, bringing glorious music to our area each fall for 18 seasons.
All of that came on top of the 31 years he served as a professor of music at Eastern New Mexico University.
But — even more importantly — Bill Wood was, quite simply, one of the best humans I have ever known. I’ve heard story after story this week that makes me know I’m not alone in that assessment.
At his memorial service on Monday in the sanctuary of the church where Wood served as organist for 23 years, First United Methodist pastor Damon Stalvey said, “I don’t know that I have ever met a man that I have held in such high esteem.”
“I’ve met some that may have been his equal,” Stalvey said, “but I don’t think I’ve met anyone who was a greater human being than Bill. He was not a man of great stature in height, but he was a man of great stature in faith and in humility.”
I don’t remember not knowing who Bill Wood was, because he was a highly visible member of Eastern’s music faculty from the time he and his wife, Ruth, moved to Portales in 1968.
It was somewhere in the late 1990s that my family got to know him best, when my husband joined the Portales Kiwanis Club where Wood was a longtime dedicated member.
He won my heart the first time we visited his and Ruth’s home for a Kiwanis Christmas party. After dinner that evening, he took his place at the piano to lead us all in singing carols.
Our daughter was a preschooler — tall enough to reach the keyboard and oh, so curious.
Wood quietly and gently encouraged her to join in and become part of an enchanting musical experience, in a way that was so sweet and so respectful and so charming that I’ve never forgotten it. Neither has she.
It was just his way.
It was also just his way to encourage countless other students by believing in them and encouraging them to believe in themselves.
One of those former students — Cindy Teel Stone — drove from Roswell to attend Monday’s memorial service.
Stone said she was a kindergartener at FUMC when she joined the children’s choir that Wood led, an experience that both fostered her lifelong love of music and introduced her to a man who would change her life and be a guiding force for years to come.
When she was in high school, a guidance counselor told Stone that she needed to plan on being a secretary and that she shouldn’t even consider higher education.
Bill Wood saw things differently.
“He expected something from me,” Stone said. “Bill looked at me and said, ‘Nope, you are going to go to college.’ He made sure I applied for the things I needed to apply for. He saved my life. I think he really did.”
Hers is only one of the countless lives this gentle soul touched along the way, perhaps best explained by Chris Wood when he eulogized his father: “I’ll always remember my dad as someone who always saw the good in everyone he met.”
For the past few years, Bill Wood was working on an autobiography for his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, called — with characteristic humbleness — “My Name Is Bill.”
Julie Wood shared some of her dad’s pearls of wisdom from one of the last chapters, including:
“Let others know how much they mean to you while you have the chance to tell them.”
“Make peace with those for whom you’ve carried a grudge.”
“Look for the good in others, even in bad situations.”
“Forgive yourself for the dumb, embarrassing, or hurtful things you’ve done -- often many years ago. You may be the only one who remembers.”
“Let go of some things that you used to be so particular about. I’ve learned that the silverware doesn’t always have to go in the drawer my way. I don’t have to balance the checkbook perfectly every time. And the world won’t run out of electricity if one of us forgets to turn off a light switch.”
Carol Sandoval, Wood’s younger daughter, said her dad “didn’t seek accolades, but he did appreciate a pat on the back.”
I hope this qualifies, dear Bill. Thank you for sharing your peace and love and goodness so generously with us all.
Betty Williamson joins with many in missing this gentlest of gentlemen. Reach her at:
