‘The heart of a servant’

As a 9-year-old, Teri Robinson could never understand why people addressed her grandfather, Edwin Wood, as “Chief.” Robinson, now an adult, recalls her grandmother taking her aside and explaining her grandfather’s former job as Homewood’s police chief.

“He couldn’t go anywhere without someone stopping and shaking his hand,” Robinson said. “He always made time for them.”

After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Wood came to Homewood in 1946 to serve on the police force. He was appointed HPD’s chief in 1956, a position he held for 20 years. Wood passed away on Christmas Day 2015.

Despite his many years of service, Wood is remembered more frequently for his life outside the police station. He and his wife, Jimmie, owned a home on Kent Lane, and Deputy Chief Jim Copus said Wood was known for his daily walks along Oak Grove Road. Duwayne Pounds, who was Wood’s pastor at Rocky Ridge Cumberland Presbyterian for more than a decade, remembers Wood’s devotion to the church and constant involvement in committees, services and men’s activities.

“Every time the church doors were open … Ed would be here,” Pounds said, adding that Wood had the “heart of a servant.”

“He was always ready to come alongside and be a help.”

Robinson recalls a grandfather whose great loves were fishing, working in his shop and creating ceramics with his wife. When she would spend the night at their house, Robinson would hide her grandfather’s newspapers and hold them ransom until Wood would read her a book.

“And he would play along every time,” Robinson said. “[He was] the best granddaddy that I could ever ask for.”

Wood was never talkative about his time as an officer or as Homewood’s chief. When he decided to move in with Robinson’s family about three years ago, they held an estate sale at his house. Robinson said many people walked up just to share their memories.

One man was especially memorable. Robinson never learned his name, but the man told her and her husband that during his younger days, he had made some bad decisions and Wood had “every right” to arrest and charge him. Instead, the man said, Wood showed him mercy, and the man said it gave him the motivation to turn his life around.

“Everybody always had the same thing to say about him,” Robinson said. “He’s just a good man.”

“Ed was always a very friendly person. He was somewhat quiet from what I remember, but when he did speak he always did in an uplifting manner,” Pounds said. “He would do whatever to be a difference.”

When Woods moved into Robinson’s home in Wilsonville, he still had that compulsion to help others. Wood would help her weed the garden, and Robinson said he pulled out her flowers as often as the weeds, but she would always thank him and simply replant the flowers later. He enjoyed watching the birds flock to bird feeders on Robinson’s patio and would refill them when the feeders were empty.

“The chipmunks and squirrels got a lot of good eating because he spilled a lot more than he got into the feeders,” Robinson said with a laugh. “He fit right into our little family.”

When Wood passed away, Robinson got the chance to talk with many of the Homewood officers who had served with him. She said the funeral service was made more special by the officers who provided an honor guard that day.

“What they did, my granddaddy would have been so proud of that,” Robinson said.