Selbert M. " Mack" Wood

Mr. Selbert M. “Mack” Wood, 89, died Saturday, May 20, 2023, at Northern Regional Hospital after a very short illness.  He was born January 29, 1934, in Woodville, to Daisy and Ernest Wood and was six years old when he moved to Mount Airy.  He graduated from Mount Airy High School and Surry Community College.  The youngest of six children, Mack loved sports, family, and a good joke.  He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Dora Ann Johnson Wood, who died June 1, 2022.  He was also preceded in death by his parents, as well as three brothers, Hersey Wood, Brock Wood, and Woody Wood.  Mack is survived by Hortense Hall and Tycho and Pansy Wood.  He has two sons and daughters-in-law, Bert and Mary Beth Wood and Michael and Diane Wood, all of Mount Airy.  He has five grandchildren, Jarod and Dena Wood, Anna and Dane DeHaan, Catherine and Zach Marquand, Dr. Lauren Wood and Scott Satterwhite, and Cynthia and Joey Scott.  He also has five great-grandchildren, Nick Wood, Bowie DeHaan, Elliot Marquand, Bert DeHaan, and Dashiell Marquand.  Another person who was practically family is John Lawrence, who was Mack’s dear friend and traveling companion for 46 years.  Starting in the eighth grade, Mack played varsity football and was one of just a handful of players to letter in football at Mount Airy High School for five years.  He co-owned Wood’s Television and various other businesses over the years, including The Mount Airy Times, WSYD, and WSTH.  He was a Mason, a licensed real estate broker, and officiated high school football.  Mack served in the Army Reserve and NC National Guard for almost 35 years and retired with an honorable discharge as a Lieutenant Colonel.  He was elected and served as a City Commissioner in Mount Airy for 12 years in the 1960-70s.  He was a member of First Baptist Church in Mount Airy and was an usher for 60 years.  Mack loved to travel and often bragged about visiting all 50 states and a number of different countries.  He also loved sports and would often have two TVs on different channels to watch two baseball, football, or basketball games simultaneously – sometimes even when they were rebroadcast.  When there were no sports, there were always old westerns to watch.  He taught his sons to fish, camp, and target shoot and camped out with them or spent several weeks each summer at Claytor Lake as they were growing up.  Mack was most proud of his military training and career.  He bragged to anyone who would listen that he graduated from the United States War College at the University of Southern Mississippi.  He was a stickler for military protocol and even correct groups or institutions when the placement of the American Flag was in the incorrect position or wrong side of an auditorium, graduation, or public place.  A celebration of Mack’s life will be held Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at 2:00 PM at First Baptist Church, located at 714 North Main Street in Mount Airy, with Rev. Jay Meadows officiating.  There will be visitation in the sanctuary for an hour preceding the service.  The service will conclude with the committal and military honors in the sanctuary.  The interment will be private at Oakdale Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Wood Scholarship Fund, c/o Surry Community College Foundation, 630 South Main Street, Dobson, NC  27017.  Moody Funeral Services in Mount Airy is serving the family.