Richard Lewis Wood, 87, leaves a legacy in Pound Ridge

By JENNIFER STAHLKRANTZ

Born in a simpler time, Oct. 22, 1938, Richard Lewis Wood was raised in Pound Ridge, the fourth of eight children to Edna and Reuben Wood. He grew up in a three-room cabin tucked in the woods off Lower Trinity Pass with no indoor plumbing or electricity. Over the course of his 87 years, he went on to serve his country and his community with dedication and pride — and to marry the love of his life, Elisabeth “Ebie” Ensign Wood.

The woodlands of Pound Ridge were his first classroom. As a boy, he kept a pet squirrel, spent his days fishing and hunting, and cultivated a talent for pranks. One morning, walking to school, he slipped a freshly caught snake into his brown lunch bag. When his teacher discovered it, she nearly jumped out of her skin. It was perhaps an early sign that Wood would find his education elsewhere. He left school at 13 and went straight to work, clearing local land for new housing developments. Too young for a driver’s license, he nonetheless navigated the roads of Pound Ridge in a 1938 Plymouth, much to the exasperation of the local police.

In 1958, Wood joined the Pound Ridge Highway Department but took a break in 1962 to serve in the Army during the early buildup of the Vietnam War. In 1964, he came home, rolled up his sleeves, and got back to work. Entirely self-taught as a mechanic and welder, he rose through the ranks to superintendent of highways, driven by an unshakeable work ethic. Though he had completed only the eighth grade, his role took him to Cornell University to study road construction.

Wood’s children remember the winter nights when “Pop” would check the weather before bed, and if a storm rolled in, he headed out — plowing and sanding the roads so his neighbors could move safely through the morning. His friend Ernie Marshall recalled waking one snowy morning to lights playing across his bedroom ceiling, only to find Wood and his brother outside clearing Route 124 and rescuing a plow that had slid off the road. 

“He was down to earth, no-nonsense,” Marshall says, “with an uncanny memory for people and the history of the town.”

In the early 1970s, while helping set up the Pound Ridge Recycling Center, Wood reconnected with Elisabeth Ensign, a former second-grade classmate. “Ebie” would become his wife, his partner, and his fellow enthusiast in bluegrass and country music. Together, they founded the Westchester Bluegrass Society, a nonprofit that brought celebrated names in bluegrass and folk music to local venues, with all proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. Their memories of growing up in Pound Ridge in the 1940s and ’50s are preserved in Bonni Brodnick’s book “Pound Ridge Past,” a chronicle of the town and the people who shaped it.

After 35 years, Wood retired from the Highway Department and drove an oil truck for Marshall Oil because the idea of stopping work entirely was never really in his nature. He also volunteered with the local fire department, the annual Memorial Day remembrance ceremony, and the Pound Ridge Historical Society. 

Fishing was the constant thread woven through Wood’s life. Every spring, he could be found emerging from the local woods with a creel full of trout pulled from nearby streams, and he made it his business to pass that knowledge on to anyone willing to learn. Summers brought the Woods to their cottage on Martha’s Vineyard, where fishing and clamming filled the long warm days. Neighbor and friend, Bob Huffmire, recalls Wood having an unrivaled knowledge of lures and techniques. 

“We called him the clam whisperer,” he said with a laugh.

In 2021, at the age of 82, Wood caught the largest bluefish the island had seen in 23 years, winning the boat category of the prestigious Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. 

According to his son, Evan Swayze, “he was not a regular churchgoer, but he practiced a quiet, Christian love of his neighbors. He never passed a broken-down car on the side of the road without pulling over. More often than not, he could diagnose the problem and get the vehicle running again; if he couldn’t, he gave the stranger a ride to the nearest service station.” 

Wood had a sharp sense of humor and a kind demeanor. Swayze continues, “his grandchildren could count on a fresh ‘dad joke’ every visit, and he kept a seemingly inexhaustible supply of idioms ready for any occasion.” 

Wood died peacefully with his family by his side on March 17. He is survived by three sisters, two sons, six grandchildren, two pups, and by the legacy he leaves on the roads of Pound Ridge, in the gratitude of those he helped, and in the hearts of those who loved him.

A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, May 9, from noon to 3 p.m., at Conant Hall in Pound Ridge. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Chelsea Fish & Game Club, P.O. Box 262, Chelsea, VT 05038.