Her husband, Gene, always thought she was the prettiest woman who entered any room, and he was right. Patty was always the prettiest woman in every room, and on July 20, 2023, at ninety-eight years beautiful, the prettiest lady in the room made her most graceful exit.
Julia Patricia Wood, lovingly known as “Patty” to her family, friends, and in the playbills of the Veale Creek Theater, was born on October 17, 1924, in Flora, Illinois. Daughter to Chester and Mary Magdalene (McBride) Edwards, Patty was the baby sister in a chorus line of six children.
The Edwards family made their rounds touring the Midwest, leaving Flora, for a brief engagement in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, before pointing their wagons east for a permanent residency in Washington, Indiana, in 1934. It was there that the Edwards family hung their floral porch baskets, raised their brood, and took the town by storm.
Once a precocious pupil of St. Simon’s Elementary, Patty graduated from Washington Catholic High School in 1942, which also happened to be the scene of her “meet cute” with her lifetime leading man, husband Gene, but, more on that later.
While smitten with the man, Patty went on to live her single days to the fullest by attending Mount Mary College, and then taking a turn as a vocalist in the Sticks Nutter Big Band, before bopping over the to the US Rubber Plant to lend her talents to making parachutes for our men overseas in World War II, in particular one MP, Gene Wood.
Upon Gene’s return from service, Patty and Gene were married in Washington and honeymooned near the bright lights of Broadway on December 30, 1947. The couple went on to have twelve children: Janie (Michael); Jackie; John; Ellen; Melissa (John); Carolyn (Stan); Joe; Julie (Gordon); Jeremy (Evelyn); and Jennifer (Geoff), all of whom Patty claimed on a regular basis, and some of which Gene claimed on occasion.
A theatrical and Main Street triple threat, there wasn’t anything Patty couldn’t, and didn’t do, well, except drive a car, of course. Patty sang, danced and always landed on her line, be it in a show at the Shawnee Theater, the small screen in a Hoosier
Lottery commercial, or from her regular spot within the church pew, where there was music, there was Patty Wood.
During intermissions from her next big role, from the comfort of her co-pilot seat in the family minivan, Patty traveled the country, went to shows, cruised the high seas, played Mrs. Claus to children everywhere, and visited and prayed for all her hellion children, grandchildren: Angela; Drew; Scott; Jonathan (Erin); Joshua (Suzy); Katrina (Danny); Nathaniel (Jessica); Ross; Aaron (Mallory); Caitlin (Lucas); Joseph; Benjamin; Caroline; and Anna, and great-grandchildren: Dylan; Drew; Layne; Ayden; Liam; Miles; Wyatt; Callie; and Reagan.
At four foot nine, Patty may have been told she was too short for the runway, but, in the hearts of her family, Patty was always seven feet tall.
In her heavenly debut, Patty will once again share the stage with her parents, her siblings: Helen, Ruth, Louise, Joe, and Jane; and her sons, Gene and Jerome; grandson, Abraham; and daughter-in-law, Suzi.
While Gene may be a little annoyed to once again share the spotlight, Patty’s family finds joy in knowing that the band is back together again.
Visitation and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Patty’s husband’s birthday – Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, 315 NE 3rd Street, Washington, Indiana, from 9:00 – 11:00 am with the Mass being celebrated at 11:00 am. Interment will be in the St. John cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Washington Catholic Endowment, 315 NE 3rd Street, Washington, Indiana 47501, or the Veale Creek Theater, PO Box 561, Washington, Indiana 47501.
Patty’s family remains grateful for the ninety-eight wonderful years of the way Glenn Miller played, and the songs that made the Hit Parade with their star. Families like ours had it made. Those were the days. Take your bow, Patty. As Gene would say, “Lord, Patty, you’ve earned it.”
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.edleemortuary.com.
The staff of the Ed L. Lee Mortuary is honored to have been entrusted with arrangements for Julia Wood.
