Dick and sandy wood memorial Scholarship Fund
Dick and Sandy Wood
Sandra “Sandy” E. Wood and Richard “Dick” Bruce Wood lived a Mt. Pleasant life marked by family, hard work, and quiet service.
Sandy, daughter of Ellis and Pauline (Neff) Howard, moved to Mt. Pleasant at age 2, where her family operated Polly’s Fruit Market at Broadway and Mission (later the Sweet Onion restaurant; now a car dealership). A 1955 Mount Pleasant High School graduate and class salutatorian, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University in 1959 and a master’s degree in education in 1985. She taught English and Drama, first in Big Rapids and later primarily at West Intermediate Middle School in the Mount Pleasant School District, retiring in 1993. A lifelong lover of theatre, she remained involved in the arts throughout college and her teaching career.
Dick was a respected builder, remodeler, and carpenter whose work shaped homes across the area, including his own. His family’s Wood Farm, purchased in 1893 by William and Augusta Wood, remains an iconic 80-acre property with tillable land and the farmhouse where Dick was born. In 2017, Dick and Sandy moved back to that home; Dick died there in 2020.
The couple met at Mount Pleasant High School - Sandy a top scholar, Dick a football player - and married in 1960. They raised two children, Valerie and Bruce. In 1990, their lives changed forever when Bruce and his fiancée were killed in a car accident shortly before their wedding. Determined to create meaning from loss, Dick and Sandy established the Bruce William Wood Memorial Scholarship Fund through the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation in their son’s memory.
Sandy’s community impact extended far beyond the classroom. A lifelong member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, she helped create a children’s library in Bruce’s memory and regularly donated books. She also launched St. John’s “Clean and Bright” program, providing access to laundry equipment, detergent, and supplies for neighbors in need. For decades, she strengthened local history by donating St. John’s publications to the Clarke Historical Library, and she volunteered her voice recording books for blind or visually challenged listeners. She also served through hospital volunteering, PEO, and other local organizations.
The Dick and Sandy Wood Memorial Scholarship Fund honors a legacy of craftsmanship, education, compassion, and enduring commitment to Mount Pleasant.
The purpose of the fund shall be to provide scholarship(s) to graduates from Isabella County attending a college, university or trade school.
Scholarship Eligibility Criteria:
Student shall be a graduate from Isabella County;
Student shall be enrolled at an accredited college, university or trade school;
Student has demonstrated financial need.
Preferences:
In selecting the most qualified applicant to receive the scholarship, reviewers should give preference to the following, listed in priority order:
Student shall be planning to pursue a (major/degree/career) in the trades.
Student’s degree of involvement in service to community.