The messages from Thomas D. Wood Sr. would always come like clockwork, popping up in Leslie Dellinger’s email inbox a day or two after a University of Miami Board of Trustees meeting.
“He would send a note, thanking us for the spectacular job we did. And it always meant the world to us,” Dellinger, secretary to the board, recalled of the gratitude Wood expressed for her staff’s efforts in organizing those trustee meetings.
He was an emeritus trustee and double University alumnus. He served in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, gave generously to a multitude of causes, and—with one of his sons—cofounded one of South Florida’s most successful privately held real estate investment banking firms. Wood passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, Oct. 23. He was 90.
“He was a people person,” said his son, Steven H. Wood, chief operating officer at Miami-based Thomas D. Wood and Company. “Above all, he treated everyone with kindness. It could have been a waitress, a busboy, a bank executive, or a judge, dad treated everyone with respect, no matter their occupation, no matter their ethnicity, nationality, gender, or religion,’’ he said.
“Whether it was his service on the Board of Trustees or his loyal support of our academic and athletic programs, Tom epitomized what it means to be a dedicated Miami Hurricane,” said President Julio Frenk. “We will always remember his kind heart, wit, charm, and intelligence, all of which helped make this University a better institution.”
Wood earned degrees from the Miami Herbert Business School and School of Law, mentoring students long after he graduated from the University, noted Georgina Angones, assistant dean of advancement at Miami Law, who recalled Wood as having a “fabulous” sense of humor, a quality his sons often observed.
“He was the Johnny Carson of Miami,” said Thomas Wood Jr., who succeeded his father as president of the company they founded. When he and his dad started their business in the 1980s, the two would often eat lunch together at Bill and Ted’s Tavern in South Miami. “We ate there so many times, that dad started calling the place ‘our corporate dining room,’ ” Wood Jr. remembered. “That’s just the way he was—he had an incredible sense of humor.”
Laurie Silvers, chair of the Board of Trustees and School of Law alumna, said she will always “treasure the time I got to know him as a member of the University’s board. His insight, intelligence, and world-class sense of humor could light up any room.”
Thomas Delancey Wood Sr. was born on Sept. 26, 1931, in Miami, Florida, the son of a judge who played on the first University of Miami football team.
He retired from the U.S. Navy as a captain and was a special attorney general for the state of Florida.
He and Jose E. Martinez, a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, served in the same Naval reserve law unit for several years. “He was my commanding officer as later, I was his,” Martinez said. “We traveled together on many Navy duties including going to Guantanamo Bay to try a few General Courts Martial. He was a very good friend, and I will miss him dearly. He was always there for you, and I will endeavor to be like him.”
Wood served on the University’s Board of Trustees in various categories. He originally joined the board in 1987, serving three years as the Alumni Association representative. After sitting off the board for two years, he rejoined in 1992 as a regularly elected trustee. He then served as life/senior trustee from 2005 until his election as emeritus trustee in 2018.
His service on the board included several committees—the finance, academic affairs, and the audit and compliance committees. He was a longtime member of the board’s former visiting committees for the School of Law and Intercollegiate Athletics.
The two-time alumnus gave generously to the School of Law, Miami Herbert Business School, Frost School of Music, and Athletics.
“He was, indeed, all about the U, whether it was academics or athletics,” said Steven H. Wood.
In addition to being past chair of the Nesbitt Scholarship Committee at the School of Law, Wood was a member of Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor attainable at the University. He is also a past member of the University of Miami Citizens Board.
Wood was a member of the Florida Bar and a former member of the Board of Governors. He was a former member of the Board of Governors of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and he served on the boards of several Florida banks. He was a past-president of the Orange Bowl Committee.
He is survived by his wife Virginia C. Wood, sons Steven Hayes Wood and Thomas D. Wood Jr., daughter Debbie Porcher, 11 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and several other relatives.
