York Against Cancer mourns the loss of long-serving director Keith Wood
PICTURE: Keith Wood
We are sorry to report that our charity has lost one of its key supporters with the passing of our long-standing director, Honorary Alderman Keith Wood.
As a former Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York and as a leading light in the city’s tourism and hotels industry, Keith was a prominent member of the local community and his energy and insight have been vital to the success of York Against Cancer.
York born and bred, Keith became involved with our charity in its very early days. He was one of a group of friends closely involved with the development of the hugely successful annual YAC lunches.
He and his wife June were close friends of our founding chairman Jack Birch and Keith soon became a trustee of our fledgling organisation.
“I think he wanted it to be successful because it was a great local cause,” said June. “He wanted it to invest and use its money wisely.
“He was incredibly proud of what YAC did, from the research through to the facilities at the hospital and to developments like the Mobile Chemotherapy Unit, which he thought was fantastic.”
Fellow board member and family friend Pat Kay paid tribute to Keith’s work, saying his attention to detail and his listening skills had helped make our charity the success that it became over the years.
“Keith thought everything through,” she said. “He was always very quiet and would listen to what everyone else had to say, and then he would come in with a great idea or analysis. He was always constructive, he never got upset or angry and he was a great debater.
“We all got excited when things like the minibus or the MCU happened but Keith was always interested in everything we did.
“He had a great input into the board. He was such a good friend to all of us and I think he is going to be missed terribly.”
Keith died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 75. He leaves wife June, two children, Rob and Shona, and a granddaughter, Scarlett.
His funeral will be held in the Quire at York Minster at 1.45pm on September 24, on what would have been his 53rd wedding anniversary. All are welcome to attend.