Obituary of Lavada Rebecca Wood

Lavada R. Wood Baxter Memorial services for Lavada R."Vada" Wood, 79, of Baxter, will be 11 a.m. - January 5, 2010, at the Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Church in Newton. Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton has been entrusted with the arrangements. A fellowship time and lunch with the family will be held at the church following the memorial service. In LIEU of flowers: Memorials to; Cornerstone Bible Fellowship or to Hospice of Jasper County. Lavada Rebecca Wood, 79, the daughter of James Alfred and Tennie May (Hayes) Justice, was born November 11, 1930 in Burbank, California. A graduate of a Fresno, CA high school, she later attended San Jose City College. On August 28, 1959, Vada was united in marriage with Philip Wood in Los Gatos, California. She and Philip took up residence in Monte Sereno, CA, for the next 36 years. At the time of their marriage, Phil and Vada, who were both widowers, incorporated their families, which grew to eight children. Vada was the back bone of the company she and Phil owned, Phil Wood & Company in San Jose, California. She and Phil moved to the Baxter, Iowa area in 1995. She loved her Christian family and church, and devoted her life to sharing God's word to all those she came in contact with. She attended the Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Church in Newton. She was a caring example of a faithful and loyal friend, wife and mother. Her love of people, her children and family, and great food were her fondest enjoyments in life. Vada left this world to sit at the arm of her beloved Jesus Friday evening, December 18, 2009, at the Skiff Medical Center in Newton. She was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter Doris; a son Daniel; her three brothers and two sisters. Those left to honor Vada's memory include her husband of fifty years, Philip of Baxter; her daughters: Diana (Donald) Mitchell of Ohio, Donna (Jack) Williams-Bishop and Deborah (Ed) Voss, of California, and Crystal (Justin) Loomis of Newton; her sons: Joe (Helene) Wood, David Wood and Barrie Wood, of California; her twenty grandchildren; many great-grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter; her brother-in-law Reuel "Woody" Wood of Florida; her sisters-in-law: Bobbie Justice and Margaret (Peggy) Justice of Nevada; several nieces and nephews; and her many wonderful neighbors and friends. The funeral will be Tuesday at 11:00 at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship, 1000 E. 12th Street S., Newton with Pastor Jim Olson officiating.