Rene M Wood

Rene M. Wood, born February 12, 1949, in Santiago, Cuba, and was forced to immigrate with his sister Manuela to the United States at the age of thirteen due to the communist regime. From that early age, he learned to be a responsible and hardworking individual, delivering newspapers to save money for the day his parents would arrive from Cuba while going to school and doing chores in Miami.

When his parents, Rene F. Wood and Rafaela E. Milanes, finally came from Cuba, they all moved and settled in New Jersey. Rene would go to school, followed by a part-time job at a supermarket, where he soon became an assistant manager. He always helped his friends by finding them jobs at the supermarket and one of those friends and coworkers became the love of his life (me, his wife, Magda). His qualities of honesty, sincerity, maturity, kind- heartedness, and the best dancer ever, won my heart. He attended Upsala College in NJ and graduated with a B.S. degree in accounting. We got married at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart on September 4, 1976; a beautiful wedding, followed by a celebration. We were blessed with three beautiful children, Christian, Steven and Melissa.

Rene worked as a manager for Quaker Oats in Elizabeth, NJ, for several years until we moved to Tampa, FL, in 1981 and he met a great man, Mr. Van Mc Neel, owner of Mc Neel International Corporation.

Mr. Mc Neel became, not only his boss, but a teacher, a second father, and a mentor. Later, his son, Mr. Clayton Mc Neel became the president and owner of the company and made Rene the Chief Financial Officer of Mc Neel International. Thanks to this wonderful family, our lives changed financially giving our family the opportunity to travel and give our children a better education. As CFO, part of Rene’s responsibilities involved traveling to other countries like Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and be part of the board of Banco Delta in Panama. He met so many admirable people he considered great friends. The list is too long to mention, but most have a special place in our hearts and in our family.

After 31 years, he retired from Mc Neel and decided to volunteer his time in our nephews’ businesses doing accounting work. Unfortunately, his health continued to deteriorate, which he had battled since the age of 35 without ever complaining for one single moment. However, his mental and emotional strength was unlike no other. He was in and out of the hospital recently and due to the many health issues and complications, he was not able to use his phone for the last three weeks nor were we able to see him. On August 6th I got the call to hurry and come see him. They thought it was the end, but by God’s hand, he stayed with us and we were able to spend two hours with him. On August 9th, I was able to speak to him by phone with the help of a kind nurse. I told him I loved him. Two hours later the phone rang and I got the bad news. My heart was extremely broken, but I knew his suffering would now end and I was grateful that I was able to see and speak to him before God took him.

I pray my dear Rene is together with our firstborn son Christian in heaven. They will both be eternally missed and will always remain in our hearts forever.

There will be a mass for the family at St. Lawrence Catholic Church. However, due to the dangerous situation we are all facing with COVID-19, we invite you all to stay safely at home and pray for his soul.

In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to The Children’s Home, 10909 Memorial Hwy, Tampa, FL, 33615. It was one of Rene’s favored charities. Thank you to everyone for your kindness and love during this difficult time.

Once again the mass will be a private family gathering. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time.