Pat Wood: “Hoe to the end of the row”

Pat Wood

Pat Wood

The sanctuary of St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Knoxville was filled to capacity on Sunday afternoon as friends gathered to remember the life of developer Pat Wood. The ushers were seating folks in folding chairs set up in the side aisles by the time the 3 p.m. service got underway. Wood, 83, passed away last week after 21 days in the hospital. His memorial service, according to the Very Reverend John C. Ross, was “Pat Wood’s kind of event.”

Kim Wood McClamroch, his daughter, painted a portrait of her father as an all-American up-from-the-bootstraps success story. She had us laughing out loud, as surely Pat Wood would have liked. Her father, she said, was the oldest of three boys. He was born in 1928 during the Depression. He had his first job, working at a service station, when he was 10. When he was 14, he was operating heavy equipment. “Work was his passion,” she said of her father. “He always said good things come to those who wait — but you’d better work like hell while you’re waiting.”

McClamroch said her father had three paper routes when he was in school. Additionally, he sold vacuum cleaners, was a short order cook, owned a restaurant, baled hay and even was a delivery boy on famed “Thunder Road.”

She recounted a story about when he was 10 years old and his father purchased a milk cow. It was Pat’s job to milk the cow twice a day — in the morning and at night. He didn’t like that chore. So he told his parents that he’d learned at school that the cow would produce more milk if it was only milked once a day. That caused the cow’s milk to dry up and the cow was sold for beef. Which led to a saying that would become a favorite of Pat Wood: “You don’t miss the milk until the cow runs dry.”

“I never saw Dad beaten down by life,” McClamroch said. Even when he lost his son. “Grief is a fact of life,” she quoted him as saying. “But it doesn’t have to be a way of life.”

She said her father always was curious and challenged himself, even taking courses at Pellissippi State Technical Community College as an adult. But most of all, he valued relationships. “You gotta dance with the one who brung you,” he’d say. That’s how she explained his relationship with Rodney Lawler, his business partner of 37 years.

McClamroch characterized her father as “the ultimate deal maker — he was always about the deal.” She said he won the money to start his business, the Wood Agency, in a poker game.

She also described her father as “authentic – he was who he was with everyone.”

Pat Wood’s step-son, John Trotter, characterized the older man as “my best friend for 25 years.” He told how when Pat Wood invited his step-son to go into business with him, Wood took him to a local tailor to have some suitable clothes made. Trotter didn’t like the pants Wood had selected for him. They had an elastic waist. “I call those old man pants,” Trotter told him. “I call them Sansabelt,” Wood responded. Trotter insisted that men of his age wore belts with their pants and he wanted some pants with belt loops. When Wood saw the cost of the pants Trotter selected, he sniffed, “I think you can do without the belt loops!” Trotter said he was shocked a few years ago when Wood was voted one of the best-dressed men in Knoxville!

The Very Reverend Ross said Wood was an eternal optimist. “Where others saw little value, he saw opportunity,” he said. Wood was known for his many clever sayings. One was, “Hoe to the end of the row.” Ross said Wood did that himself, fighting valiantly for three weeks in the hospital.

Here are some other well-known Pat Wood sayings listed in the program of the memorial service:

  • If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.
  • Your word is all you have.
  • If you kick enough bushes, you’ll get a rabbit.
  • No is just a prelude to yes.
  • It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
  • Can’t make a good deal with a bad man.
  • Money don’t buy class.
  • Remember, we all put our pants on the same way — one leg at a time.
  • Don’t go cleaning someone else’s house until you got yours sparkling.

I have known Pat Wood since I moved to Knoxville as a reporter in 1980. At first I covered him because of his involvement with the 1982 World’s Fair — he was a member of the board. Later, I knew him as a businessman and philanthropist and as one of Knoxville’s legendary “12 White Men” whom, it is said, make everything happen around here. Over the years, the thing that continued to strike me most about him was that he was always smiling. Knoxville is a little less bright this week because of his passing. My deepest condolences to his great family.

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9 Responses to Pat Wood: “Hoe to the end of the row”

  1. Allyn Schwartz, on May 3rd, 2012 at 10:59 pm said:

    Sad day, indeed with Mr. Wood’s passing. His son was a friend and that passing was so sad, as well. Pat Wood is remembered as a man of vision and sight for our little city. May he rest in peace … so many of our visionaries are leaving us. He has only a few contemporaries left … Godspeed, Pat Wood.

  2. Annette Winston, on May 4th, 2012 at 7:17 am said:

    I remember Pat saying that about good things come to those who wait and work while they are waiting. His was always a reasoned voice on our bank’s board, and his patience was legendary. I will never forget this Southern gentleman, who truly lived the words “gentle man”. Kim and Mike–we love you and know that your memories of Pat will always be a blessing to you. Thanks, Cynthia, for this tribute. It says what so many of us knew and believed about this extraordinary man.

  3. MJ Whitt, on May 4th, 2012 at 12:49 pm said:

    Pat Wood was one of the most gracious men I have ever met. He always had a smile and a kind word, and if he ever had a bad day, you never knew it. He will be sadly missed.

  4. Cynthia Moxley, on May 4th, 2012 at 9:53 pm said:

    Thanks for comments, folks. Appreciate them. Pat was a unique asset to our community, for sure.

  5. Larry G. Cox, on May 4th, 2012 at 11:31 pm said:

    I had several dealings with Pat while serving on City Council for twenty years . I always found him to be a true gentleman who treated everyone with diginity and respect.
    Since I left Council, he had sent me a donation each year to help the Knoxville Falcons with our innercity football program. He was truly a man who helped those who were less fortunate than himself. May God rest his soul and bless the Wood family.

  6. Cynthia Moxley, on May 6th, 2012 at 12:42 am said:

    Thanks for your nice comment, Larry.

  7. Tina Wood, on May 15th, 2012 at 9:50 pm said:

    Thanks for this wonderful writeup. One correction, though: he was the oldest of three boys — Pat, Mike and Jerry (both of his brothers pre-deceased him.) It has been a gift to read so many nice comments from people who knew Uncle Pat in many different contexts. Thanks, Tina Wood, niece

  8. Cynthia Moxley, on May 15th, 2012 at 10:29 pm said:

    Thank you, Tina, for that correction. I have made it in the blog post. My sincerest condolences.

  9. Fay Bailey, on May 16th, 2012 at 10:57 am said:

    Pat Wood wan an outstanding citizen, businessman and we will miss him Fay Bailey

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