26 May 1957 – 20 Jun 2009
Wife of Kent Vincent Wood
KATHLEEN STONE WOOD MAY 26,1957 – JUN 20, 2009 Kathleen Wood Stone, 52, a resident of Folsom, California died on 6/20/09 in a solo-vehicle accident on Highway 50.
Kathy was born in Oakland, California but spent most of her growing up years in Modesto, California where she graduated in 1974 from Downey High School.
During high school, Kathy was a cheerleader and very active in drama and music. Her vocal talents were well-known in the community during special recitals at Modesto Junior College and as a lead performer in many productions with Modesto Performing Arts.
Kathy graduated with a B.Mus. in Vocal Pedagogy from Brigham Young University in 1979. She made good use of this degree in the voice lessons that she taught throughout her life. While at BYU, she participated in the A Cappella Choir, the Oratorio Choir, and the Opera Theatre. It was during a BYU Choir tour of Europe that she performed before Queen Sophia of Spain.
She married Kent V. Wood in 1976. After their graduation from BYU, the couple spent one summer living in Modesto before Kent began dental school in San Francisco. Her husband practiced dentistry in Antioch, Walnut Creek and later retired from his practice in Folsom, California. While living in Antioch, Kathy organized and directed the Antioch Children’s Chorus for 4 years.
She was also the creator and director of W.A.I.T. (Wise Abstinent Informed Teens), a youth speakers group that visits local schools to promote abstinence before marriage.
Together, Kathy and Kent performed lead roles in Civic Light Opera and musicals such as Oklahoma and Music Man. She also performed with her mother, Patricia, in Oakland, during the Legacy Concert.
Along with her husband and children, she participated in several humanitarian missions to Peru, Tonga, and Mexico, providing service, goods, and assistance to needy families and communities.
Kathy Stone Wood is survived by her parents, Patricia J. and Ronald V. Bud” Stone of Modesto, two sisters, Suzanne Stone of Modesto and Leslie Stone Eriksson of Folsom; three brothers, Ronald J. Stone of Ceres, David E. Stone of Loomis and Stephen J. Stone of Modesto. She also leaves behind her husband of 33 years along with their six adult children, Elisabeth (32), Daniel (30) and his wife, Kristen, Sean (28), Eric (25), Jason (23), and Christina (18).
A memorial service will be held on Monday, 27 July 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2100 California Circle, Rancho Cordova, California. The public is welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up for the benefit of the Kent and Kathy Wood family. Donations can be sent c/o David E. Stone, 5582 W. Saint Francis Circle, Loomis, CA 95650.
A life-long, active member of the LDS faith, Kathy served in various ward and stake callings and frequently served in the Sacramento LDS Temple. In the words of her husband, Kent, Kathy is a woman of grace, integrity, compassion, and kindness. She is a woman of faith; a woman of God.” http://kentandkathywood.blogspot.com
-Published in the Modesto Bee on July 24, 2009
Final Testimony
The evening of Kathy’s passing, she shared her testimony with the young women of the Folsom stake at Girls Camp. Someone recorded and transcribed her words. I think she would want her posterity to know the feelings of her heart as well:
I want to add a few words to what President Wood has already expressed (about you girls here at camp) and your radiance. You can see it and you can feel it. We have heard from everyone we talked to, that you have invited that glow, by the way that you have cared for one another and by the way that you have followed your Savior this week. And how wonderful that you have given that gift to each other. That beautiful Christ like love that you have shared here at camp. On my way up here we were looking at some scriptures that had to do with stars, and I went to the back of my scriptures and I have this one page that everytime I would come across a new name , or different, unique name for the Savior, I would write it down on a page in the back of my scriptures. And it’s filled,…we know him by so many wonderful names. But, one of those names is bright and morning star. I want to just share with you very quickly that He is my Bright, …..my Morning Star. He is the light that makes clear what is real and what is true. And gives purpose and meaning to everything in my life. I love him and I’m so thankful to my Father in Heaven for sending him here. And for sending prophets to testify of him. And I just express that, I know, that as you follow Him, you can enjoy that same happiness , that same love that He promises to all that follow him. And I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Green Valley Cemetery, Rescue, El Dorado County, California
