1930
George
2013
George Arthur Wood
April 6, 1930 — April 13, 2013
Remembering and Honoring – A Quiet Man
George Arthur Wood
George A. Wood, 83 of Marietta GA passed away Saturday, April 13, 2013.
George was born in Cleveland, OH on April 6, 1930 – grew up on a family farm and was schooled in Mentor, Ohio before moving to Los Angeles. George graduated from David Starr Jordan High School in Long Beach, CA.
After High School, he entered the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Survey and Mapping Division as an enlisted man and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and received an Official Citation for Outstanding Performance of Duty. During his service George designed and built bridges in advance of troop movement during the Korean War. You may have seen one of his works during the last episode of MASH; George designed the Peace Building where the armistice was signed to end the Korean War.
After his service with the US Army Corps of Engineers, George attended Loyola of Los Angeles University on the GI Bill – the first in his family to attend college. He then enrolled and was the first to complete his Masters Degree from the International Training Center (ITC) for Aerial Survey in Delft, Netherlands. George was then recruited to ITEK Corporation for TOP SECRET development of the first spy satellite; named Corona. The camera on Corona was the first to turn photos into maps. Corona was deployed from 1960 - 1973 with 156 successful missions and was a major element in stopping the Cold War and “averting World War III” (Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev).
With this camera technology and the dedication of hundreds of the country’s most brilliant and patriotic individuals (team ITEK), the US was able to locate ICBM locations and create maps from over 600,000 feet. Corona missions were so successful that NASA then deployed a new version of the Corona camera for the Apollo flights to survey the moon prior to Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.
George was issued two patents having to do with the development of the first camera to be able to send photographs via radio wave to Earth. After Corona, George was instrumental in the deployment of HEXAGON - another spy satellite that operated until 1985. HEXAGON was so effective George convinced the CIA and the US Air Force to utilize this technology for mapping going forward.
HEXAGON was the precursor to the modern day GPS (Global Positioning System). Based on the HEXAGON success, NASA then selected a smaller, non-classified version of this camera technology to be used on the US Space Shuttle mission 41G. George was the Systems Engineer on this large format camera for NASA.
George then went onto create smaller versions of the HEXAGON satellite camera for commercial applications (Metritek 21 Cartographic Camera System) for which he won a Silver Bullet Award from ITEK. In addition to satellites, Apollo rockets and the Space Shuttle – his cameras were also installed in military aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird.
George was considered a visionary and revolutionary contributor to the profession of aerospace mapping and remote sensing. During his professional life, George visited 15 countries on 7 continents. George received an Inventors Award from the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1976. George never considered himself exceptional – he always thought of the others he worked with as ‘Exceptional.’
George and Aileen met on Aileen’s birthday (June 14th / Flag Day) 55 years from the date of his planned interment at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
George Wood is survived by his wife, Aileen Toner Wood of Marietta, Son, Jeff Wood of Marietta; Daughter, Lauren Wood-Viscardi and son-in-law Dan of Marietta; Grandchildren, Michael, MIDN 3/C Eric and Jason Viscardi; Brother-in-law, Ronnie Marvin and two nieces, Katherine Cook Diener Rainsberger, Meli Cook and nephew Walter Cook.
The family received friends at the West Cobb Funeral Home and Crematory, 2480 Macland Rd. Marietta, GA 30064 Phone: 770-419-9234
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 5 – 7 PM
Interment is scheduled at The Georgia National Cemetery - 1080 Veterans Cemetery Rd Canton, GA 30114 Phone: (866) 236-8159
Friday, June 14th 2013 at 11:30 AM
“Quiet people have the loudest minds.” Stephen Hawking
George
A quiet man
Who drank his coffee black
A deep man
Who thought to the Moon and back
A thoughtful man
Who loved the beauty of the flowers
A joyful man
Whose grandchildren made him prouder
A patriotic man
Whose country he held dear
A strong man
In all that he did, he did persevere
A family man
Who his family deeply loves
A remembered man
Who just left on the wings of doves
Thanks for the memories, we love you George.
George Arthur Wood
George A. Wood, 83 of Marietta GA passed away Saturday, April 13, 2013.
George was born in Cleveland, OH on April 6, 1930 – grew up on a family farm and was schooled in Mentor, Ohio before moving to Los Angeles. George graduated from David Starr Jordan High School in Long Beach, CA.
After High School, he entered the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Survey and Mapping Division as an enlisted man and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and received an Official Citation for Outstanding Performance of Duty. During his service George designed and built bridges in advance of troop movement during the Korean War. You may have seen one of his works during the last episode of MASH; George designed the Peace Building where the armistice was signed to end the Korean War.
After his service with the US Army Corps of Engineers, George attended Loyola of Los Angeles University on the GI Bill – the first in his family to attend college. He then enrolled and was the first to complete his Masters Degree from the International Training Center (ITC) for Aerial Survey in Delft, Netherlands. George was then recruited to ITEK Corporation for TOP SECRET development of the first spy satellite; named Corona. The camera on Corona was the first to turn photos into maps. Corona was deployed from 1960 - 1973 with 156 successful missions and was a major element in stopping the Cold War and “averting World War III” (Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev).
With this camera technology and the dedication of hundreds of the country’s most brilliant and patriotic individuals (team ITEK), the US was able to locate ICBM locations and create maps from over 600,000 feet. Corona missions were so successful that NASA then deployed a new version of the Corona camera for the Apollo flights to survey the moon prior to Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.
George was issued two patents having to do with the development of the first camera to be able to send photographs via radio wave to Earth. After Corona, George was instrumental in the deployment of HEXAGON - another spy satellite that operated until 1985. HEXAGON was so effective George convinced the CIA and the US Air Force to utilize this technology for mapping going forward.
HEXAGON was the precursor to the modern day GPS (Global Positioning System). Based on the HEXAGON success, NASA then selected a smaller, non-classified version of this camera technology to be used on the US Space Shuttle mission 41G. George was the Systems Engineer on this large format camera for NASA.
George then went onto create smaller versions of the HEXAGON satellite camera for commercial applications (Metritek 21 Cartographic Camera System) for which he won a Silver Bullet Award from ITEK. In addition to satellites, Apollo rockets and the Space Shuttle – his cameras were also installed in military aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird.
George was considered a visionary and revolutionary contributor to the profession of aerospace mapping and remote sensing. During his professional life, George visited 15 countries on 7 continents. George received an Inventors Award from the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1976. George never considered himself exceptional – he always thought of the others he worked with as ‘Exceptional.’
George and Aileen met on Aileen’s birthday (June 14th / Flag Day) 55 years from the date of his planned interment at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
George Wood is survived by his wife, Aileen Toner Wood of Marietta, Son, Jeff Wood of Marietta; Daughter, Lauren Wood-Viscardi and son-in-law Dan of Marietta; Grandchildren, Michael, MIDN 3/C Eric and Jason Viscardi; Brother-in-law, Ronnie Marvin and two nieces, Katherine Cook Diener Rainsberger, Meli Cook and nephew Walter Cook.
The family received friends at the West Cobb Funeral Home and Crematory, 2480 Macland Rd. Marietta, GA 30064 Phone: 770-419-9234
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 5 – 7 PM
Interment is scheduled at The Georgia National Cemetery - 1080 Veterans Cemetery Rd Canton, GA 30114 Phone: (866) 236-8159
Friday, June 14th 2013 at 11:30 AM
“Quiet people have the loudest minds.” Stephen Hawking
George
A quiet man
Who drank his coffee black
A deep man
Who thought to the Moon and back
A thoughtful man
Who loved the beauty of the flowers
A joyful man
Whose grandchildren made him prouder
A patriotic man
Whose country he held dear
A strong man
In all that he did, he did persevere
A family man
Who his family deeply loves
A remembered man
Who just left on the wings of doves
Thanks for the memories, we love you George.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of George Arthur Wood, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Receive Friends
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
5:00 - 7:00 pm (Eastern time)
West Cobb Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc.
Inurnment
Friday, June 14, 2013
Starts at 11:30 am (Eastern time)
Georgia National Cemetery
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