In Memoriam
Peter Jennings Wood
Pete Wood
Peter Wood
1963 graduation
Peter Jennings Wood
Peter Jennings Wood, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, passed away September 5, 2014 at his home in Midlothian, Texas due to complications relating to lung cancer.
Born to Charles Anthony Wood, Jr. (BFA, Yale '29) and Marian Alice Jennings in Franklin, N. July 20, 1941. In 1964, he met Carol Gerling in Yosemite Park. They were wed exactly three years later.
Peter learned a love of architecture from his father and discovered a passion for education after graduating from the Yale School of Architecture in 1971. This led him to a career that included the University of Texas at Arlington, the American Institute of Architects, the University of Nebraska, the University of Houston where he held positions as Associate and Assistant Dean and Dean, and finally, Prairie View A&M.
His long career also included service in the Army as a Russian linguist. In 2001, he was awarded Educator of the Year by the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Peter is survived by his loving wife, Carol, children James, Anne and Charles and grandsons Jude, Jonah and Maxwell, and his brother, Paul (class of 1959) and Ingrid of Rockledge, Florida and Harvey Cedars, N. J.
He is remembered by family, colleagues and friends as a man of
integrity, great sense of humor, always encouraging others, wonderful host
and trip planner extraordinaire....the last being a trip to Yosemite
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his and Carol's meeting.
from Jim Courtright:
The friendships formed at Yale are one feature of that experience that we ourselves create and value. Peter Wood's friendship was one of those. Pete was friend of mine in Calhoun at Yale and in later years when we had phone conversations and email exchanges mostly about architecture, academics, reunions, and Yale. He was passionate about architecture throughout his life and did his best to ignite an artistic spark in his students.
In architecture, he once sent me a full length tape, quite special to him, from a program of the art and designs, including the Vietnam Memorial, of Maya Lin. He told me that in presenting to architecture classes her works, with their final simple elegance and and deeper significance, he had to make an effort to do so without letting his feelings play the stronger role. A passion for architecture typified Pete.
At one time on returning from Greece I told him of my experience in ascending Mnesicles' Propyleae at the Acropolis, both in gaining glimpses and then losing them as approaching the great temple of Athena. He related to me how that was highly similar to the approach to the Yosemite Falls, both in gaining views and hearing sounds and then sounds alone and then at long last the Falls in full view. The lectures and persona of Vincent Scully were of great impact on his professorial vision and I believe he had some hope that he too would be able to deliver great lectures well into his golden years. He gave no indication that he had any health problems, goaded me to keep my own health in good standing, and suggested that he would continue as long as his academic Dean would keep him honestly employed.
Pete also joked with me when I told him of my retirement and that, following the official date, my wife and I would be spending time with our daughter. He chided me for mooching on my daughter's generosity the moment the professor's paychecks stopped coming. There were also many other similar and enjoyable verbal joustings, a small sampling of which can be gleaned from his essays in the 25th and 50th Classbooks. I had hoped to convince him to make it to our 50th reunion and am sure we would have enjoyed his subtle humor and company, but in the end it could not be arranged.
Still, he is to remembered because his passion about and for architecture was the major driving force in his academic life. His Calhoun friends will recall how he devoted long hours to design and construction in those early years, when it seemed to us that there was for him always another project with yet another deadline. I am sure he was equally dedicated to enlightening his students and by his life and his interests showed us why the structures that surround us can inspire and motivate and create better human environments.
We who knew Pete were surprised by and deeply saddened by his unexpected passing. A friendship, such as his, is one that continued to add to our lives these many years after Yale. His friendship, as best our minds and time allow, now will likely stay in lasting memory of those who sensed how strong his passion was and those many of us who knew how much the Yale friendships meant to him.
James (Jim) B. Courtright, Yale '63