Hundreds mourn man who died in shooting By Susan Pugh Editor, The New Era Progress Tuesday, May 29, 2007 A Redman work cap, a Cat stocking cap for cold weather, a tin cup and a black felt hat with a turkey feather in it stood atop the coffin. The objects were part of the life of Dewey Sylvester Wood. Wood was a carpenter and builder of anything, hence the work and stocking caps. He was also a batteau man through-and-through, hence the period-appropriate black felt hat with its jaunty feather and tin drinking cup he used when on the river in the Maple Run. An estimated 800 people gathered at Calvary Baptist Church in Lovingston on May 28 for the funeral of the 51-year-old Arrington man. Those attending included a judge and members of the School Board with whom Wood's wife Sarah works. Wood died May 23 after a shooting, which investigators have said likely stemmed from a dispute over payment for a deck Wood built for Thomas Junior Turner of Arrington. Turner was arrested and faces a charge of first-degree murder. News of Wood's death has reverberated around Nelson County. More than 1,000 people attended his visitation the night before the funeral, according to Wells-Sheffield Funeral Home. "That alone shows the depth of love the people of Nelson County feel for him," said Susan Huffman after speaking at his funeral. Huffman's husband Roger and Wood were co-captains of the Maple Run batteau. Dewey and Sarah Wood "became part of our family," Susan Huffman said. People said Wood was one of those people who made others feel like family. "You're talking about somebody here with monumental character and charisma," said Russ Simpson, owner of the Apple Shed on U.S. 29 near Lovingston and classmate of Wood's at Nelson County High School. "He was the guy in our class of '75 – if there was ever a professor of laughter, it was Dewey," Simpson said. According to the 1975 Governor, the Nelson high yearbook, Wood was in the Varsity Club, the Pep Club, the SGA, and the FFA, and on the varsity football, basketball, baseball and track teams. Wood was "a star athlete. He didn't have to talk to me, but he did." The two remained friends, and every time Wood drove by the Apple Shed, he would honk in a signature pattern. When it comes to character, Wood jumped into the river during last year's James River Batteau Festival to save a woman who fell out of the Maple Run after having a seizure, Susan Huffman said. Wood's wife Sarah is on the board of directors at the Nelson County Pantry, and her husband "used to just show up at our old building and cut the grass," said Pantry Vice President Marian Dixon. He would lay concrete when needed, or fix what needed fixing – anything, she said. "He reminded me of Santa Claus," a jovial, laughing, kind soul, Dixon said. "You could count on Dewey for anything." Batteaux became part of Wood's life some 20 years ago when he decided to build one out of white oak and pilot it down the James River. Batteaux were the long boats used in the 1700s and 1880s to transport goods on the James, the state's first "highway" in the time before cars or railroads. Within hours of Wood's death, a tribute to him went up on the Batteau Festival Web site, www.batteau.net. Those in the festival would miss Wood's "bellowing voice of enthusiasm," wrote John Lewis. "A river of tears flows in your honor." Aaron Lee of The News & Advance in Lynchburg contributed to this report.

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