Eleanor Margaret Wood

Eleanor Margaret Crump Wood passed away at the age of 94 on Sunday, October 12th, 2025 at home in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with family members at her side. Eleanor was born on August 25th 1931, in Cohoes, NY, to Robert Fleming Crump and his wife Bertha Agnes Flatley Crump. Her mother Bertha, a WWI “government girl”, was an auditor for the IRS; her husband had died when Eleanor was only 12. Eleanor’s mother capably supported her only child and numerous family members through the Great Depression and beyond.

Eleanor met her future husband Don in Horicon, a small town in upstate New York; she saw him entering church and knew she would marry him. After church that day Don and Eleanor met in an ice cream parlor and started chatting. Don and Eleanor married on August 26th, 1950 (the day after her 19th birthday).

Eleanor received a BA from Boston University, followed by a teaching certification from Radcliffe College. She taught English for a number of years at Jacksonville High School, as husband Don was often stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune near Jacksonville, NC..

Eleanor and Don had four children, daughters Adrienne, Paula, Wynde, and Blaine. The family lived in various locations in the US (Jacksonville, NC; Quantico, VA; Swartz Creek, MI), as well as Brazil, and Okinawa, throughout her husband’s military career. She appreciated the life as a military wife, the independence, but also the supportive structure of the military combined with the close-knit community life of Jacksonville, NC.

Eleanor organized the enlisted wives of those Marines who were on sea duty with the 2nd Marine Division, to foster mutual support, and worked with Navy Relief helping Marine Corps and Navy wives who might be facing difficulties. She believed in being of service, and volunteered with the Red Cross. In the 1950s and 60s she was heavily involved with the Jacksonville Garden Club, becoming a Master Gardener, and continued a lifelong passion for gardening and flower arrangement. Eleanor enjoyed her Bridge Club for over 60 years from the mid-1950s into 2020.

Eleanor was preceded in death by her husband, Colonel Donald Eugene Wood, U.S.M.C.; and grandson Nolan Strout. She is survived by her four daughters, Adrienne Koehler (husband Rick), Paula Chesser, Wynde Onstott (husband Roger), and Blaine Strout; grandchildren Asia Jacobson, Nori Koehler (husband Sean McGraw), Ryan Onstott (spouse Kaitlin), Bryce Onstott, and Ethan Onstott, Cody Chesser, and Casey Strout, and two great-grandchildren, Donovan McGraw and Alana Jacobson.

Eleanor had a sharp intellect, and enjoyed reading the paper, especially the business section, and doing crosswords well into her nineties. She had a lifelong love of animals … cats, dogs, horses, all with their special distinct personalities. As Coleridge wrote: “Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best, who loveth best. All things both great and small.” Horses were the joy of her life; she loved riding through the forests and beaches of the Camp LeJeune area. Eleanor would always be up well before dawn, cleaning, baking breads and cookies, and gardening. She was always neatly dressed, and really loved wearing one or another of her many brooches as a “finishing touch”.

There will be no immediate memorial service; the family will gather in the future for a private celebration of Eleanor’s life. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her name to an animal welfare organization of your choice.

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