Phyllis Catherine Wood

Phyllis Catherine Wood, 88, of Newton, died Monday, June 8, 2020, at her home. A funeral service will begin at 1 p.m. Friday, June 12 at the United Presbyterian Church in Newton. The family will greet friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11 at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Memorials to the United Presbyterian Church may be left at the funeral home or the church the day of the service.

Phyllis, the daughter of Verne and Colleen (Gesford) Snook, was born Feb. 17, 1932, in Newton. She grew up in Newton and graduated from Newton High School in 1950. On June 12, 1951, Phyllis was united in marriage with Joseph “J.D.” Wood at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. During J.D.’s time in the service, they lived in Savannah, Ga., and Seattle, Wash., until his deployment when Phyllis moved back to Newton. She worked in customer service at Newton Manufacturing prior to her children’s birth. As they were growing up, Phyllis was the secretary at the United Presbyterian Church and then later returned to Newton Manufacturing, where she would retire from in 1997.

Phyllis was a lifelong member and had served as Deacon at the United Presbyterian Church in Newton. She was also a past member of Questers. Phyllis loved spending time with her family and enjoyed their Tuesday morning coffee times. She and J.D. enjoyed wintering in Florida for many years. Phyllis also liked shopping, antiques and collectibles. She was a proud and courageous three-time cancer survivor.

Phyllis is survived by her husband, J.D. Wood of Newton; children, Joe Wood of Newton, Jim (Mary) Wood of Newton, Randy Wood of St. Paul Park, Minn., and Carolyn (Guy) Mouton of Southlake, Texas; her grandchildren, Brandi (Chad) Rinehart, Dustin (Jackie) Wood, Jessica (Heath) Miller, Noelle Mouton, Danae Mouton, Schyler Wood, Hannah (Caleb) Wood Wipf and Sarah Wood; step-grandchildren, Michael and Matthew Hoover; and her seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Robert Snook in infancy and Willard Snook in May of 2020; and her sister, Beverly Nearmyer in February of 2020.