Obituary of Diane Wood Diane Caroline Wood (nee MacDougall) Passed away on Tuesday, April 28th at Fairhaven Long-term Care after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Diane was born on August 5th, 1940 in Westport, Ontario. After her father, Major Robert MacDougall, was killed in action in Italy in 1944, her mother Helen (nee Porter) permanently returned to Westport from Stratford, where she became a teacher at the village schoolhouse, and where she raised Diane and her younger brother Duncan. Diane was naturally athletic and had a love of the outdoors. She grew up playing any sport she could, becoming an accomplished figure skater in her teens, spending summers swimming, fishing and hiking at the family cottage, Dunollie, on Wolfe Lake. Diane also excelled academically, graduating high school from Athens District High School at age 16. Because her mother thought she was too young to start university, she attended Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa, and graduated a second time at age 17. Diane enrolled in Queen’s Phys-Ed in 1958, and graduated in 1962. It was at Queen’s where she met many of her life-long friends, including her husband, J.C. Edgar (Ed) Wood. After graduation, Diane was quickly employed as a high school Phys-ed teacher at A.N. Myer in Niagara Falls, receiving her teaching certificate over the next two summers. Di and Ed were married in 1963 and started married life in Port Credit, where she taught at Gordon Graydon Secondary School. By the time she was 25, Diane was head of the Phys-ed department, taking on more and more administrative responsibilities on top of her teaching. Her career success helped to put Ed through law school at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. In 1968, Diane and Ed moved to Peterborough for about a year, where Di became assistant department head of Phys-ed at PCVS. Di retired from teaching when she decided to have a family, and after briefly living in Milton, she and Ed returned to Peterborough in 1972. It was in Peterborough where they raised their three children, Robert, Heather and Ian, where she volunteered for a number of organizations over the years, and made many great friendships. In 1977, Diane and Ed built a cottage on Wood Island at Stoney Lake, where they spent many happy summers, boating, puttering and enjoying happy hour on the dock. When the kids were old enough, Diane decided she wanted to return to work, enrolling in Nursing at Sir Sanford Fleming College, from which she graduated in 1988. She worked for more than 10 years as a psychiatric nurse at the Nicholl’s building at the Peterborough Civic Hospital, where she was known for her kindness, respect, and empathy. Diane had an adventurous spirit (she held a private pilot’s licence and power squadron certificate), enjoyed birdwatching and gardening, and loved to dance. She was a whiz at Trivial Pursuit, a reasonable bridge player and an impassioned political debater. Always the athlete, Diane remained an avid cross-country skier for as long as she was able, and became an enthusiastic curler later in life. Diane is survived by Ed, her husband of more than 56 years, children Robert (Cara), Heather (Trevor) and Ian (Meggan), and grandchildren Aly, Owen and Graeme. Sister of the late Dr. Duncan MacDougall (Betty Jo) of Westport, sister-in-law to the late Dr. John Wood (Diana) of Montreal and Betsy Brooks (the late Jim) of Huntsville. The family would like to thank the staff at Fairhaven for almost four years of ongoing support and care. A memorial and celebration of Diane’s life will be held at a later date.