Juanita Gooding Wood

A funeral service celebrating the life of Juanita Ritter Gooding Wood, 94, of Hampton, will be held at 11:30 in the morning of Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at the Varnville United Methodist Church with Reverend E. Rossiter Chellis and Reverend Paul Reid officiating. Interment will follow in the Gooding Cemetery in Crocketville. Pallbearers will be Kenneth G. “Jerry” Gooding, Jr., William Scott Gooding, Cecil Alexander “Trey” Hanks, III, Carr Irving Breckinridge Hanks, Horace Norman “Ritt” Ritter, III, and Marcus DeWayne Ritter.

Mrs. Wood was born September 13, 1919 in Bamberg County, the oldest daughter of the late Horace Norman Ritter and Piety Elizabeth Harvey Ritter. She was an active member of numerous organizations including the Magnolia Garden Club, the Garden Club of South Carolina, the Lillie Chapter No. 27, Order of the Eastern Star, and the Young At Heart.

A member if the Varnville United Methodist Church, she enjoyed her Sunday School class and the MWU. Juanita was also a former member of Sandy Run Baptist Church, where she served as church treasurer and attended the Jessie Lee Gooding Circle of the Missionary Society (WMU).

Juanita touched the lives of many people in the community. She enjoyed her flowers, cooking pound cakes, and entertaining her family and friends.

She was predeceased by her first husband of 38 years, William Irving Gooding, and her second husband of 17 years, James Henry Wood, Sr. She was also predeceased by her sister, Helen Ritter Jones; her brother, H. N. Ritter, Jr.; and her daughter-in-law, Kathryn Anderson Gooding.

She is survived by: her children, Gerald Gooding of Hampton and LaRue Gooding Clark (Stan) of Columbia; four grandchildren, Jerry Gooding (Dana) of Fairview, Tennessee, Scott Gooding (Catherine) of Jacksonville, Florida, Trey Hanks (Sandy) of Marietta, Georgia, and Carr Hanks of Hilton Head; seven great grandchildren, Daniel, Elizabeth, David, Caitlin, Alex, Brett and Nicole; a brother, LaVern Ritter (June) of Hampton; many nieces and nephews; and a special friend, Marcia Wood of Varnville.

The family wishes to thank her wonderful circle of friends, her loyal caregivers who have provided love and support for many years, and the committed staff at Sanctuary Hospice for their gentle touch and caring hearts.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Sanctuary Hospice, Post Office Box 161, Ridgeland, South Carolina 29936.

The family will receive friends from 10 until 11 Tuesday morning at THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES, VARNVILLE-HAMPTON CHAPEL, 1074 Yemassee Highway, Varnville, 803.943.5016; www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com.

---