Bill Text: VA SR46 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Rocky S. Wood.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-02-08 - Bill text as passed Senate (SR46ER) [SR46 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SR46-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Rocky S. Wood, a seven-year Virginia Department of Forestry employee who worked in the Western Region's Vansant Office, died on March 9, 2023, while fighting a 15-acre wildfire along Lester's Fork Road near the Roseann community in Buchanan County; and
WHEREAS, Rocky Wood was scouting the area to determine where to create a containment line around the perimeter of the fire when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving overturned and he perished as a result of his injuries; and
WHEREAS, Rocky Wood served 30 years as a wildland firefighter and was a member of the Virginia Department of Forestry honor guard, an instructor for wildland fire investigation and suppression, and a leader and mentor of his peers; and
WHEREAS, Rocky Wood had an outsized impact on the Haysi community as a 1987 graduate of Haysi High School, vice mayor of Haysi, chief of the Haysi Volunteer Fire Department, chairman of the building code committee of Dickenson County, owner and operator of Wood Construction Company, and member of the Grace Fellowship Baptist Church in Haysi; and
WHEREAS, Rocky Wood was born and raised in Wise County and was the son of Nina Wood and the late Lacy Wood; in addition to his father, he was preceded in death by his grandparents, John Gartin and Alta Gartin Charles and Earl and Edna Ramey; and
WHEREAS, Rocky Wood will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his loving wife, Debbie; his daughters, Lindsey and Lauren, and their families; his mother, Nina; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of Virginia hereby note with great sadness the loss of Rocky S. Wood, a cherished member of the Haysi community whose success in his public service career brought great pride to the Commonwealth; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Rocky S. Wood as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's respect for his memory.
