Page 77 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2023 - Online Magazine

EXCEPTIONAL SENIORS
was newly stationed. Their first two children, Mark and
Gregory, were born there.
Having fulfilled his commitment to Uncle Sam, the
happy family left Richland, Missouri for the capital of
Kansas, where Chuck began teaching history at Hayden
High School, as well as coaching and running athletics
programs. It was in Topeka where John, Marice, and
Lisa were born. John was nearly born at a basketball
game because Alma’s fanatical love of the game
kept her in the stands at a stage when most women
would have safely landed in a hospital bed. It is no
wonder that John also loves basketball and that now
their conversations regularly consist of Alma keeping
him up to date with TTU games, while he keeps her
apprised of the Kansas teams where he lives.
Aside from John in Kansas and Lisa, the youngest,
whose Air Force career took her around the world
before her tragic death in 2000, all the rest of the Wood
kids got the Texas fever, settling in the Lone Star State,
where they have raised their own kids. Marice and
Mark work in nursing like their mom, while Greg,
an anthropologist by training, worked for the US
Department of Transportation in San Antonio, where
he was greatly loved prior to his death in 2021.
With the loss of two children and the earlier tragic
loss of her beloved husband, Alma’s lifelong love of
Christ has sustained her and helped her maintain her
faith through it all. Alma converted to Catholicism
before college, and her faith has been an important
part of her life ever since. Here in Lubbock, she is an
active member of Christ the King Cathedral, where she
served in the choir for decades until mobility
issues made it difficult to climb the risers.
Her voice resonated her love for God and
was not confined to mass on Sundays. In the
choir, Alma’s friendliness helped others feel
at ease, and in her regular singing at home,
she inspired her grandchildren’s generation,
many of whom are musically gifted and
one of whom, Calvin Craig, plays in a local
Lubbock band.
Encouraging her kids and grandkids and
treasuring times of family reunions and
weddings are a big part of Alma’s life,
although she moves a little slower now. She
has a little dog, Jack, that keeps her company
between visits with friends and family,
and he, too, has become an avid sports fan
as they watch the games together. Alma “coaches” the
TTU football and basketball teams from her living room,
giving the Raiders sound, strong advice from her 80+
years of wisdom and grace.
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