Robert William "Will" Rees, Jr.

Robert William Rees, Jr. (known as Will, Willy, and affectionately called “Woody” by his sisters and close friends), of Pilot Mountain, NC, died Monday, September 29, 2025.

He was born on October 10, 1980, in High Point, NC, the son of Robert W. and Judy F. Rees.

Will had a great passion for the knowledge of all things. He was brilliant, loved nature, and could identify every tree and plant in the forest. He foraged the woods for sustainable natural foods and was an expert in all types of mushrooms. He believed in permaculture and was an accomplished naturalist.

He had a sweet and gentle nature. Will was an avid hunter/gatherer, but always for food and not solely for sport. He loved learning and was like an encyclopedia in many subjects, especially geography, history, and art in all forms. He was an accomplished artist and artisan. He especially excelled and enjoyed woodworking, creative design with wood, and carving. Will was the type who would not cut down a live tree, but instead would search and find those already downed to utilize in his projects. He would study a tree burl and design and carve a beautiful wood sculpture around it. Will was a trained luthier who designed and made classical guitars and was an accomplished musician. His love for all things wood is how he earned the nickname “Woody,” aptly created by his sister Allison.

Will studied the stock market and world economy and was skilled at investing.

Will loved the sea, loved to dive and to fish, and was a great chef.

Will was educated at the Oak Ridge Military Academy and studied literature and fiction writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. To further his knowledge and skills in artisan crafts and woodworking, Will's studies continued with an apprenticeship at the European Luthiery School in St. Louis, Missouri, and then he studied chair construction and forestry at the Woodwright School in Pittsboro, North Carolina. His study of wood construction included the Brian Briggs School of Chair Making in Asheville, North Carolina, and the Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in Brownsville, Maine. He especially enjoyed the wood carving studies at Penland School of Crafts in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. To further his artistic skills, he studied ceramics at the Museum School at Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Will was an intrepid world traveler. He began his adventures in the South American countries of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru. Following South America, he went to Southeastern Europe, which included Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and to northern Europe, including Austria, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. His last trip to Europe included the countries of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. In 2012, he traveled extensively throughout the United States, a trip that included 20 states from California to New Hampshire. His travel style was immersive in food culture, art, history, and architecture. He explored independently, creating the opportunity to find himself as part of local culture while meeting people around the world. He had a passion for photography and captured the essence of his travels everywhere he landed with the nature of an artist's memoir. In 2015, he studied natural building and permaculture at Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica, and traveled to Nicaragua and San Juan Del Sur, Bocas del Toro, and Boquete, Panama. In 2017 and 2018, he travelled to Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and to various cities in Colombia.

"If one is willing to take the chance, to go to a city or country unfamiliar, where every face, sound, and smell are reminders of the distance between the place you were born, and the place you are standing, then you will thread the edge of exhilaration and doubt. The exhilaration will come unexpectedly from chance meetings with new friends on rooftops over a shared bottle, or alone on hilltops overlooking a town that took you seven days to find. I believe these moments are among the most valuable, the moments so distinguished from everything in your prior experience that you mourn for them before they are even passed, in a place you’ve never been, with someone you just met, momentarily alive. When you look back on the valleys, you can only smile at your fear, for your experience has given you a map of your emotions and weaknesses, and you can see all along that you were moving in the right direction, simply because you were moving. There was never any chance of being lost in a town backed by two rivers and facing the sea. The land itself was your shepherd. After years of study and searching, I have begun to chart my experiences, made a map of myself, so to speak. I can now look at this map and see that every twist and turn led me closer to a life of making things with my hands."

~Will “Woody” Rees, circa 2013

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank You for the gift of our son, brother, and uncle Will, and for the precious time we had with him. The pain of his absence, the emptiness in our arms, and the overwhelming grief that fills our hearts are too much to bear.

We trust in Your infinite love and mercy, Lord. We ask You to receive our son into Your eternal embrace. Hold him in Your arms, surround him with Your peace, and free him from all pain and suffering. May Your angels welcome him, and may he experience the joy of seeing You face to face and to be reunited with his sister, Allison, whom he loved dearly, and with his departed family. Amen.

Surviving in addition to his parents are his sister, Laurie Elaine Rees; a niece, Alex Mae Rhys; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family. Also remembered are his sister, Junelle Allison Rees; maternal grandfather, Lawrence E. Flinchum; maternal grandmother, Elaine B. Flinchum; paternal grandfather, Robert M. Rees; paternal grandmother, Avis L. Rees; and Uncle Jerry L. Flinchum.

A private memorial service will be held at sea off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina, on December 27, 2025.

Memorial donations may be made to Penland School of Craft at PO Box 37, Penland, North Carolina 28765-0037. Use this link to donate.