Lifetime of devotion, decades of craft

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Though she doesn’t get out as much as she used to, Wood still finds a way to support the ministry through crafting.

She makes the crafts and sells them to support the SCN mission to help those less fortunate.

Wood was born and raised in St. Mary’s County, but has lived several years in Kentucky as a Sister of Charity of Nazareth. On Oct. 11, Wood celebrated her 100th birthday and 39 family members traveled to Nazareth to celebrate with her.

She is one of nine chil- dren. Her siblings are Chip, Boonie, Bill, Archie and Aggie Wood and Louise Abell, Mandy Green- well and Marie Hill.

Crocheting is a skill she learned from her sister, standing behind her chair to learn the patterns. The simpler dishcloth patterns are her favorite, she said, because it’s relaxing. But she’s also up for a chal- lenge. Some of the other items she’s made include decorative Christmas can- dles — a favorite among the campus — as well as hats, stationary holders, door signs, seasonal tow- els, coasters, decorations and baby blankets.

“Baby afghans, I’ve made hundreds of them, but it takes longer,” she said. “They take about a week. I get to them when I can, when I’m not pray- ing or going to Mass and meals.”

Her creations and materials fill drawers and cabinets around her room, many ready for those who ordered them.

Wood said a group that often visits from Chattanooga has been a repeat customer and recently ordered nearly $200 in items.

“More than they’ve ever bought before,” she said.

The sister stays on top of her orders with the support of her family and friends, especially a niece in Alabama who helps keep her supplied.

“If I tell her I need some green yarn or blue yarn or something else, it’s in the mail in two days,” she said.

She is grateful, she said, that she has a family that wants to be involved in her ministr y work, too.

The work is just an ex- ample of how Wood has contributed to Nazareth during her time there.

Born and raised in Holly- wood, Wood took her first vows in 1935 as a teenager.

“There was a sister who taught me,” Wood recalled. “The things she told us about the religious life, I felt the calling.”

She served as a cook and kitchen supervisor at different ministries in both Maryland and Kentucky, an ironic assignment that ultimately laid the foundation for her crocheting.

“I was young, I didn’t know how to cook, so I had to carry a cookbook around with me,” she laughed. Growing up with eight siblings, Wood had several older sisters who took on the responsibilities in the kitchen, so she hadn’t learned. But she picked up on it along the way, being tasked to cook for about 100 sisters and several college and Catholic students at Nazareth.