Dr. Chester and Dolores Wood Retirement

Vice-Chancellor’s Reflections: Paying true homage to Dr. & Mrs Chester Wood is a daunting task. One cannot attempt to do so without a lump in the throat or avoid being teary eyed! I first met Dr Wood almost 28 years ago. I was to meet his better half and boss –Dolora, as he would fondly call her- some time later. At the time he was a handsome and bushy-haired red head. Handsome he still is. Bushy red-head?? Thank God for the powers of creative imagination!

The legend of the Woods will be told and re-told at AIU for a long time to come. More importantly it will live on in the lives of the many whose good fortune it was to cross their paths and drink from their cisterns. This is because the significance, impact and influence of the Woods was not simply because of what they did at NEGST/AIU, but also because of who they were. Dr. Wood was teacher and Mentor to many. Such was his reputation for working students to the bone –all the time assuring them that he believed in the resurrection!- that a few students would not touch him with a barge pole. For those who had the good sense to sit at his feet, his classes were a treat and life-changing experience. He poured his life into his students and formed deep and meaningful relationships in the classroom, outside of the classroom and in many cases, continuing, life-long relationships. A scholar per excellence, a gifted even if reluctant academic administrator who was respected by his peers, and an astute and effective resource mobilizer are other facets of this brilliant diamond.

But if one were to peel through all of these amazing layers, one will find that the reality at the core of Dr. and Mrs Chester and Dolores Wood was the fact that they were captives of the Kingdom of God. They both believed the gospel is not just a faith to be believed but a life to be lived as disciples of Jesus and the Kingdom.

Mrs Dolores Wood, or Mama Deborah as she was fondly known, was and is the embodiment of commitment to and love of family. It was not just that she would repeatedly refer to “My husband,” “our daughters,” and “my family,” it was also the integrity and Italian passion with which she said it that captured one’s admiration.

So as the Woods retire, all of us at thank God for and wish them God’s blessings and presence and all the best in the years ahead. Thank you to Elizabeth, Rebecca, Ruth, and Deborah who allowed them to live among and with us. Please count us as members of the Wood extended family. Thank you Dr. Wood. Thank you Mama Deborah. As we honor you today, I am pleased and privileged to appoint you Ambassadors at large to the AIU Vice-Chancellor. Now get to work and get that book finished and published!

M. Douglas Carew