Anne Heiskell Nichols Wood
June 27, 1923 – October 3, 2022
Anne Heiskell Nichols Wood died peacefully in her home at East Ridge Village in Miami, Florida where she had lived for the past 14 years. Anne was a remarkable woman, mother, artist and friend.
Anne was born in Nashville, Tennessee on June 27, 1923 to Lewis and Lila and later joined by brother Lewis. They were a large and loving family and Anne enjoyed a happy and wonderful childhood spending summers at the family home in White Bluff, Tennessee, with cousins in Griffin, Georgia and a special summer at 16 years old in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended Ward Belmont College before going to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan. Her university education was interrupted by World War II when Anne enlisted in the Navy. She served in Washington DC as part of the Hydrographic Division.
After the war, Anne returned to Ann Arbor to complete her degree. It was then she met David Pangmon Wood, who she would marry and spend 55 years with, raising five children together in Wilmette, Illinois. The many homes the Wood family lived in through the years were all decorated with Anne’s bold and unique style, with beautiful paintings and a special focus on a sun motif.
When first married, Anne taught kindergarten and then focused on her growing family and homelife. She volunteered with the Institute of Cultural Affairs where she was fortunate to travel the world teaching. She was never afraid to do the right thing, marching from Montgomery to Selma during the Civil Rights Movement and joining many political campaigns and causes. When the family relocated to Miami, Anne became a realtor with Esslinger, Wooten and Maxwell and enjoyed organizing community events like the annual Riviera Art Show.
Anne is preceded in death by her husband David and daughter Susan Wood Ponce. Surviving Anne are her children Priscilla of Champaign, Illinois, Emily (Eugene) of Long Pond, Pennsylvania, David (Yoko) of Tokyo, Japan, Jennifer (George) of New York, New York, son-in-law Lucius Ponce of Westfield, New Jersey and grandchildren: Brendan, Connor and Andrew Daly, James, Katherine and Elizabeth Ponce, Joseph Seiya, Nicole Misaki, Lauren Natsuko, Matthew Taketo and Luke Taisho Wood, great granddaughter Maya Ponce and many nieces and nephews in Nashville, Minnesota, Texas, Washington and elsewhere along with many, many close family friends.
