James F. Wood

Decatur business and civic leader James F. Wood, 82, went to be with our Lord Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at a Denton Hospital.

James was born November 4, 1937 to Frank and Lela (Welch) Wood in Bridgeport Texas. He was united in marriage to Shirley Dale Stanley on November 7, 1959 .  He was a graduate of Decatur High School and a member of Victory Family Church.

James joined the military after high school and after his discharge worked at Bell Helicopter in Hurst until a friend convinced him he belonged in the car business.

James sold Fords early in his career and was the manager of the Bridgeport branch of Cocanougher Ford Sales.  It is ironic that his father Frank also sold Fords in Decatur.

He and Shirley operated Tanwood Motor Sales in Decatur for a decade until the Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac & GMC dealership became available and General Motors came calling on Decatur’s most successful used car dealer to take over the dealership and James Wood Motors became a reality.

James Wood Motors became the nation’s largest GMC truck dealer in 1989 with sales of more than 3,000 new trucks. James Wood was the largest GMC dealer in Texas for a decade.

In 1983 James and Shirley built the current dealership facility and in 1989 the Decatur Chevrolet dealership closed and James Wood Motors became Wise County’s full-line General Motors dealer.

For a short time James also owned Decatur’s Chrysler, Dodge Plymouth dealership but it was sold in 1987.

James was named Decatur’s Citizen of the Year in 1989 for his many contributions to the community.  He was also elected to the GM Presidents Dealer Advisory Council in 1987 and because of his dedication to the Fort Worth Stock Show he was elected to the Stock Show Board of Directors.

He was instrumental in the founding of the Champions and Blue Ribbon Club for the Wise County Youth Fair and served on the board of the Wise Health System for a decade.

In 1990 General Motors asked James to consider buying a Buick/GMC dealership in Denton.  The next year a Pontiac franchise was added to the Denton dealership.

In 1994 James and Shirley had the opportunity to buy the North Texas AutoPlex in Denton and added Chevrolet, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Jeep, Eagle and Mazda to the dealership family and the James Wood AutoPark was created.  The Jeep, Eagle and Mazda franchises were later sold.

Today the Wood family owns two large General Motors dealerships in Decatur and Denton and a Hyundai dealership in Decatur.  In addition James created the Neighborhood Autos used car dealership with multiple locations in North Texas.

James loved traveling, cutting horses and raising cattle and most of all spending time with his family.  He was preceded in death by his son, Josh Wood.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 60 years, Shirley Wood of Decatur; his son Raymond Wood and wife Pam of Decatur; his daughter Janetta Wood of Decatur; his grandchildren Alex, Hannah, Nicki, Natalie and Franklin; 10 great grandchildren; nieces, nephews, extended family and a host of friends.

His private funeral will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday, April 24, 2020 at Victory Family Church.  Friends can pay their condolences 5-8 p.m. Thursday at Hawkins Funeral Home in Decatur. The service will be live streamed on the Victory Family Church website and YouTube channel.   Because of the current health crisis, mourners will not be allowed in the church sanctuary but are welcome to watch the service on personal computers on the church parking lot.

Burial will be in Oaklawn Cemetery and mourners are asked to park on the north and east sides of the gravesite but because of the health crisis will not be able to interact with the family at the cemetery .

To honor his memory, and to celebrate his amazing spirit of giving, instead of flowers or plants, there will be a charitable organization or memorial fund selected at a later date. Once this has been determined, we will let everyone know.