[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 22 (Monday, February 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING WILLIAM ALLAN WOOD FOR A LIFE WELL-LIVED IN SOUTH JERSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 22, 2010

  Mr. ANDREWS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor William Allan Wood 
for his many years in New Jersey's First district. Mr. Wood, at 105 
years old, sets an excellent example of how to live fully and 
completely.
  Mr. Wood was born the second of seven children in June of 1904 in 
Camden, New Jersey. He grew up in Haddonfield, NJ. He started attending 
Drexel night school in the fall of 1923 studying mechanical engineering 
and received his certificate in 1928. While attending Drexel, he worked 
in a shop rebuilding machine tools and then at the Southwark Foundry in 
Philadelphia and later at the Baldwin Locomotive Works as a draftsman 
and then an engineer. In 1936, he started working for Florence Pipe 
Foundry, part of the R. D. Wood Company. He started as an engineer/
draftsman. In 1940, he became a plant engineer and oversaw the 
expansion of the foundry's capacity during WWII. He remained plant 
engineer until he retired in 1961.
  Allan married his wife Virginia in 1937 and moved to Delanco, NJ 
where they raised a daughter and a son. His wife passed away in 1999. 
He has three grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Allan has 
always stressed the importance of family, friends and has served on 
many local and state boards and commissions.
  Allan has been a lifelong sailor, first in small racing sailboats and 
then in cruising sailboats. For 25 years, Allan and his wife sailed 
their beloved 27-foot sailboat on the Delaware River and the Chesapeake 
Bay, often in company with family and friends. It was through a sailor 
friend that he started his second career at C-Lec Plastics in 1962 as 
an engineer designing tools and equipment for casting, curing and 
machining large high tech plastic components. When his wife became ill 
he cut back to a 3-day workweek and for the past 5 years he has been 
working 3 half-days per week. Even at 105 years of age, Allan is one of 
the most reliable employees at C-Lec and is appreciated by everyone 
there.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate Mr. Wood on a life filled 
with achievements and service. It is an honor to pay tribute to Mr. 
Wood, and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

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