John Jay Wood, 65, of Austin, Minnesota, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, surrounded by his entourage after a short and courageous battle with cancer.

John was born Jan. 30, 1951 in Austin, Minnesota to Charles and Carrie (Vermedahl) Wood. He attended school in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota graduating in 1969.  He then went to Austin Vocational School to be an Auto Body Repair Man. On Feb. 24, 1973, John was united in marriage to Julie McAlister. To this union they had two beautiful children.

John loved working on cars and was a body man in Owatonna for over 37 years. For the past six years, he worked at Bellisio Foods in Austin. When not reciting “Pulp Fiction” quotes, you could always find him in his garage tinkering with a car, go-kart, snowmobile or most recently his golf cart. His greatest joys of his life were his children. Nothing brought a bigger smile to his face than talking about his kids and grandkids (his little fonzies). Spending time with them was what he liked to do best. He will always be well known for his fun inventions (oven baked piñata, fabricating a go-kart track in his yard or building a car hood sled; to mention a few) which sometimes even got us into a little trouble, but we sure had fun. His smile will never be forgotten.

Survivors include his wife Julie Wood; daughter, Shannon (Dennis) Bentzin; son, Chad (Sara) Wood, all of Austin, Minnesota. His canine companion Jerry Lee of Austin, Minnesota; grandchildren, Tyler (Lindsey Raker) Bentzin, Janesville, Minnesota, Mackenzie Bentzin, Ally Wood, Maddie Wood, Mason Wood, Peyton Wood and Breylynn Wood, all of Austin, Minnesota; great grandson Easton Bentzin of Janesville, Minnesota; brother, Paul (Karen Kinney) Wood, Austin, Minnesota; sister, Iva (Bruce) Kruckeberg, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; sister-in-law, Norell Durfee, Minnesota Lake, Minnesota; sisters-in-law, Kathy (Pete) Hancock, Rhonda (Marv) Eckert, both of Austin, Minnesota; brother-in- law, Randy McAlister, Austin, Minnesota and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Carrie Wood, sister Irene Schulz, brother Dean Wood, nephew Mike Schulz, brother-in-law Vic Schulz, sister-in-law Avis Wood, mother and father-in-law Don and Delores McAlister and his canine companions Nikko and Stinky.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Clasen-Jordan Mortuary with the Reverend Elizabeth Endicott officiating. Visitation will be at Clasen-Jordan Mortuary from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday and also for one hour before the service on Saturday.

Your wings were ready, but our hearts were not … so with great sadness we say goodbye.

Blessed be his memory.