LOUISBURG - William Thurston "Bill" Wood, II died Saturday, September 9, 2017 at his home at 934 North Main Street, Louisburg.

He was the only son of the late William Thurston "W.T." Wood and Mary Delphia Sykes Wood of Pilot, NC.

Bill grew up in Pilot, NC, attended Bunn High School until the ninth grade, before moving to Kernersville, NC where he graduated from East Forsyth High School in 1981. He later attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Before becoming disabled due to serious back problems, Bill was employed in the banking and insurance businesses. He also did landscaping and long-distance trucking.

After the death of his mother, Mary Wood, Bill went to live with his uncle, Jimmie Sykes, near Spring Hope in Nash County.

In 2013, Bill came to Louisburg to live with his close friend and former seventh grade teacher, Joseph A. Pearce, Jr., where he resided until his death last Saturday morning.

Bill is survived by his two aunts, Susie Sykes Ledford and her husband Don Ledford of Raleigh, Shirley Sykes Jackson and her husband Louis Jackson of Wake Forest; two uncles, Jimmie Ray Sykes of Nashville, NC and David Boyd "DB" Sykes and his wife Barbara of Seaford, Virginia; and numerous cousins. He is also survived by his close friend, former teacher, and caregiver, Joseph A. Pearce, Jr. of Louisburg; and his two dogs whom he loved dearly, Nicholas and Mickey. Bill was preceded in death, in addition to his parents, by a number of aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visitation will be on Sunday, September 17, 2017 in the Louisburg United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall at 402 North Main Street at the corner of North Main Street and Noble Street in Louisburg from 1:00 p.m. until 1:45 p.m. Memorial service will follow at 2:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary. Officiating will be the Reverend Dr. Mike Safley, pastor, and the Reverend Anita James-Carnes, associate pastor.

Following the services, burial will follow in the White Level Baptist Church Cemetery in northeastern White Level.

Arrangements are by Strickland Funeral Home & Crematory, Louisburg, www.stricklandfuneralhome.net.

Paid Obituary