BEAUMONT, Texas (Aug. 10, 2011)—Charles K. “Chuck” Wood, well known in the synthetic rubber industry where he worked for 48 years, has died.
Wood, 85, who died on July 28,worked for Anderson International Corp. designing, commissioning and selling synthetic rubber finishing lines. In the 1970s he formed his own company in Beaumont, Woodco Inc., of which he was president and his wife Janis served as secretary, and became Anderson's exclusive international representative for rubber clients served by the company.
He was known as a leader in the development of mechanical drying of synthetic rubber, and traveled the world, serving companies with sales and technical support, his family said.
In a 2001 interview for a story about Anderson International in Rubber & Plastics News, Wood said he started with Anderson in 1959 and ran an asphalt plant for the firm. He left the company in 1976 to become a consultant involved in the reclaim rubber business.
In 1979, Wood said, he became reaffiliated with Anderson as its worldwide rep to the rubber business, a job that took him all over the globe.
“The biggest contract I signed for the company was $10.5 million in Russia. We had several $5.5 million contracts in China and Russia,” he said in the interview.
Wood and his wife often attended the Annual General Meetings of the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers, of which Anderson is a member.
Born near Pittsburgh, Wood served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and then attended college in Michigan.
His family said he commented often about how much he appreciated the love and support of family, friends, and business associates that sustained him as he traveled the world, often to new frontiers to American businessmen.
Wood's family will gather in Natrona Heights, Pa., at a later date for a private memorial service.