Albert Kirk Wood

Albert Kirk Wood, 82, Chief Administrative Officer for two Maryland counties for almost 15 years, died of congestive heart failure November 25, 2001 at the Memorial Hospital at Easton. Born June 13, 1919, in Baltimore, he was the son of the late Stuart Monroe and Alberta Schaeffer Wood. He graduated from Catonsville High School and attended the University of Maryland. Mr. Wood, a real estate appraiser and consultant, was deputy clerk of the court for Baltimore County. In 1968, he worked as County Administrator with Omar Jones, Howard County’s first County Executive, and helped Howard transition from county commissioner to charter home rule form of government. In 1975, he played a similar role in Talbot County, serving as Talbot’s County Manager until his retirement in 1982. Mr. Wood was a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, treasurer of the Hog Neck Golf Association, a member of Grace Lutheran Church, Easton and past President of the Maryland Association of County Administrators. At his retirement, the Maryland Association of County Administrators said “ Mr. Wood’s managerial, administrative, and fiscal abilities were a stabilizing force in both counties in which he served”. “My political philosophy, and I’m not ashamed to admit it, is what Thomas Jefferson said, that the government should not do for people what they can do for themselves”, Mr. Wood once said. Mr. Wood is survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Dorothy Goodale; two daughters, Jacqueline Stone and her husband, Michael of Westminster, MD and Jill Wood Tallman and her husband, Douglas of Frederick, MD and three grandchildren, James Marshall Stone of Westminster, MD, Madeline Joan Tallman and William Donald Tallman, both of Frederick, MD. He was predeceased by a daughter, Barbara Sharon Wood and a sister, Emily Wood Heusi. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 8, 2001 at 2:00 PM at Grace Lutheran Church, Easton. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Easton Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance Fund, P.O. Box 851, Easton, MD 21601. Arrangements are by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Easton.