Richard D. Wood Jr., Wawa chair emeritus and ‘guiding heart and soul,’ has died at 88
During his tenure, Wawa grew to more than 36,000 associates and was one of the largest privately held companies in the country.
Richard D. Wood Jr., 88, of Wawa, Delaware County, chair emeritus and former chief executive officer and president of Wawa Inc., Convenience Store News Hall of Famer, lawyer, trustee, mentor, veteran, and philanthropist, died Friday, July 10, of age associated decline at his home.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Wood earned a law degree at what is now the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School in 1964 and joined his family’s nascent Wawa food market company in 1970 as its first general counsel. His great-grandfather founded the Wawa dairy in 1902, and his father’s cousin opened the first Wawa food market in 1964.
By 1977, Mr. Wood had ascended to president of the company, and its innovations, including 24/7 hours of operation and custom-made hoagies, made it the region’s dominant convenience store. He became CEO in 1980 and chair in 1982, and was named chair emeritus in 2020.
In 2020, Inquirer business writer Joseph N. DiStefano said Mr. Wood “presided over the board during the period of Wawa’s rapid growth from a regional cokes-smokes-milk-and-hoagies chain to a convenience store and gas outlet with more than $12 billion in annual sales and 850 stores from New Jersey to Florida.”
For more than 40 years, Mr. Wood supervised Wawa’s multistate expansion, addition of gas pumps, expanded inventory, rigorous employee training, and a popular employee stock ownership plan. During his tenure, the company grew to more than 36,000 associates and was one of the largest privately held companies in the country.
Through it all, Mr. Wood was affable and curious, friends and family said. He wanted to know everybody’s name and what they thought, and he enjoyed touring the stores and chatting up associates and customers, especially on Christmas Day. He told colleagues he wanted to “create an environment where each of us believes that we can make a difference.”
“Dick Wood was our true lead goose who was the guiding heart and soul of the company,” Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s chairman and CEO, said in a tribute. “He is the reason why Wawa is the company we are today and why we enjoy so much share of heart from our customers and dedication from our associates.”
Mr. Wood hired students and women to work in the stores, and offered flexible schedules to accommodate their availability. He oversaw Wawa’s $200 million of donations to community nonprofits and its college tuition reimbursement plan for associates.
In 2021, to mark his 50th anniversary at the company, Wawa established the Dick Wood College Scholarship Fund for associates. He told Inc. magazine in 2018: “Values and culture mean more in this company than being smart.”
Colleagues called him “humble, gracious, curious, and kind,” and “a beloved treasure to the company” in tributes. His life-size bronze statue greets visitors at Wawa’s corporate headquarters.
“He made people feel important,” said Barbara Ennis, his longtime assistant, ”because to him, they were."
Mr. Wood was onetime chair of the executive committee of the National Association of Convenience Stores and on boards at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Riddle Memorial Hospital, Philadelphia National Bank, Bok Tower Gardens in Florida, and other organizations. He appeared often in The Inquirer and Daily News, spoke on panels and at conferences about corporate leadership, and was inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame in 1996.
He served on the Chester Heights borough council in the early 1980s and was named 1996 businessman of the year by the Great Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce. Before Wawa, Mr. Wood was a public defender in Philadelphia and a lawyer at Montgomery McCracken.
“People loved to follow him,” said his son, Richard D. Wood III. “He was larger than life,” said his daughter, Lisa Wright.
As a philanthropist, Mr. Wood and his family donated $25 million to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2021, and CHOP named its Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment in his honor. His family also funded the Richard D. Wood Jr. and Jeanette A. Wood Endowed Chair in Pediatric Diagnostic Medicine, and he instituted a volunteer services program at CHOP.
Sometimes, his family said, Mr. Wood walked the halls of the hospital, sharing Wawa coffee and conversation with patients and families. CHOP honored him at its 2019 Carousel Ball. Madeline Bell, CEO At CHOP, said: “I will truly miss his warmth, wisdom, and generous spirit.”
Howard Stoeckel, former Wawa vice chair, CEO, and president, said in a tribute: “He had a special mix of heart, compassion, empathy, and humility that made him a true believer and practitioner of servant leadership.”
Richard Davis Wood Jr. was born March 4, 1938. He graduated from St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., earned a bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Virginia, and served for a year in the Marine Corps and later in the Marine Corp Reserve.
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He met Jeannette Andrews when he was visiting New York with friends, and they married in 1964. They lived in Philadelphia and Wawa, and had a daughter, Lisa, and a son, Richard III. His wife died in 2025.
Mr. Wood was an avid golfer, and he belonged to the Gulph Mills and Pine Valley Golf Clubs, and the Mountain Lake Club in Florida. He played tennis and bridge, and was a longtime season ticket holder for the Eagles and Flyers.
He and his wife traveled, hosted family holiday parties, and spent memorable winters in Lake Wales, Fla. He drove his favorite Honda Accord for years and followed Virginia college football and basketball closely.
He championed conservation, education, and health. “He treated every single person the same,” his daughter said. His son said: “Humility defined him.”
Mr. Wood said in a 2020 video for CHOP: “It’s a great feeling to know that you’re helping out.”
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In addition to his children, Mr. Wood is survived by five grandchildren, a sister, a brother, and other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Box 781352, Philadelphia, Pa. 19178; and Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Blvd., Lake Wales, Fla. 33853.
