The Rev. Dr. Charles Leon Wood, Class of 1954, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, died Thursday, April 15, 2021, aged 93. With nearly 60 years of service, he was the nation’s longest serving Episcopal chaplain under the Bishop for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries in the Episcopal Church.

As an Episcopal pastor, Wood served churches in New Jersey and Michigan before retiring to North Carolina. He was active at St. Philip’s Church in Durham, St. Luke’s Church in Yanceyville and since moving to Penick Village in Southern Pines, he assisted in the Chapel of Transfiguration as needed. He taught at Durham Technical School for 14 years, was very active in the Masons and Eastern Star, and had also been a past vice president of the Sandhills Model Railroad.

Wood was born Nov. 10, 1927, in Rahway, N.J., to the late Charles L. and Helen White Wood in Rahway. He was raised in Atlantic City, N.J. He was a graduate of Rutgers University with a bachelors’ and doctoral degree and went on to graduate from General and the Philadelphia Divinity School. He was a member of the USAF Civil Air Patrol since 1957. His service education included diplomas from the Air University, Air War College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was a radio operator for the 20th Air Force in World War II and also served as an officer in the New Jersey National Guard.

Wood married Nancy Lee Phillips Wood on June 23, 1956, who survives, as well as a son, Stephen Charles Wood; and a daughter, Dorothy Anne Steppe. He is also survived by his four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Penick Village Foundation Endowment Fund, 500 E. Rhode Island Ave., Southern Pines, NC 28387

A funeral service will be held at St. Philip’s Church, 403 E. Main St. Durham, later this week. Burial will follow at Maplewood Cemetery, Durham. Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com. Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.