Bill Wood, a long-serving Labor member of the ACT's Legislative Assembly who was dedicated to community service, has died. He was 88.
A state funeral for Mr Wood, who died on Sunday, will be held at St Paul's Anglican Church, Manuka on Tuesday, May 28 at 2pm.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said Mr Wood diligently served the ACT for 15 years in the Assembly.
"I first met Bill in 1992 when I joined the Labor Party, and although our time as Members in the Assembly did not overlap, I did get the chance to work with him in government as a staffer during his final term in the Assembly," Mr Barr said.
"In recognition of Bill's significant contribution to the Canberra community, the Wood family has accepted the offer of a State Funeral to celebrate Bill's life next week Tuesday."
Bill Wood was born on November 4, 1935 to Anne Alice Margaret Reyment and Leslie Arnold Wood, a school teacher who served in the Queensland parliament.
Mr Wood trained as a teacher at the University of Queensland and served as a Labor member of the Queensland parliament between 1969 and 1974, before losing his seat.
Mr Wood unsuccessfully contested the federal election in 1977, which forced him to resign as a public school teacher in Queensland.
"I tossed around what to do and came to Canberra ... somewhat as a refugee I suppose. Now I'm thoroughly converted. It's a beaut place and I'm here to stay," he told The Canberra Times in 1989.
Mr Wood moved to Canberra in 1978, worked as a teacher of children with disabilities, and served a two-year stint as Susan Ryan's private secretary when the ACT Labor senator was federal education minister.
When the ACT was granted self government, Mr Wood resigned as a teacher at Giralang Primary School to contest the first elections as a factionally unaligned Labor member for the Legislative Assembly.
"I guess it's a bug in the system. My twin brother and my father were members of parliament too. I've always had an intense interest in community matters," he said of his decision to run.
Peter Wood, Bill Wood's twin brother, was elected to the Queensland parliament in 1972 and later served more than two decades on the Toowoomba City Council.
Mr Wood was variously the ACT minister for education, disability, housing, community services, police, the arts and urban services.
He retired from the Legislative Assembly at the 2004 election, going on to become chairman of Arthritis ACT and a patron for not-for-profit disability organisation Abbeyfield ACT.
Mr Wood was made a member of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Australia Day honours for significant service to the community and the Legislative Assembly of the ACT.
The "overriding" attraction of politics for him was being able to contribute to the community, he said at the time.
"I'm very much aware of all those people in the community that work so hard," Mr Wood told The Canberra Times.
"This community really thrives on lots of people doing lots of things.
"There's literally thousands of groups out there, tens of thousands of people doing things, doing great things. I'm just one of those tens of thousands."
Mr Wood is survived by his wife Beverley, children Andrea and Steve, Richard and Eileen, Matthew and Fu Yang, Wendy and Cameron, and grandchildren, Sylvia, Nick, Maxwell, Harry, Georgette and Bella, the state funeral notice said.
