Born August 3, 1925 on Clay Hill in Charlottesville, VA to Robert Warner Wood St. and Mathilde, Lewis Wood, Dr. Warren Wood was one of three children, an older sister, Mathilde Wood Nanni, and younger brother, Joseph Miller Wood. He grew up in Princeton, NJ, where he delivered groceries for Albert Einstein and later was invited to sit in on an advanced math class taught by Einstein. He grew up in a boarding/tutoring school setting in his own home run by his father which was designed to help young men gain admission to Ivy League Universities. At age 17, Warner enlisted in the United States Naval Air Corp, where he served until the end of WWII. He went on to earn his bachelor’s in biology at Princeton University and his medical degree at the University of Virginia. After completing his degree, he did both his internship and residency in New York City, at St Luke’s and Columbia Presbyterian respectively. While doing his orthopedic residency, Warner did in excess of 2000 scoliosis instrumentations, a new procedure at that time. Dr. Wood then moved to Atlanta to open his private practice as an orthopedic surgeon at both Piedmont and St. Joseph’s Hospitals.

Dr. Wood practiced medicine in Georgia for 62 years until the age of 94. He was a very talented surgical innovator performing the first scoliosis instrumentation in Georgia, the first total hip to be performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he remained on staff for all 62 years. During his surgical career, he also had the largest series of osteotomies of the spine for Ankylosing Spondylitis in the world. He donated his time freely to what is now known as the Children’s Medical Services program, where he transformed the quality of life for 1000s of children through his surgical knowledge. Although Dr Wood retired from surgery in his 70s, he continued to run an active practice for another 20 years. He is remembered by his peers as a giant in his field, an innovator and a wonderfully caring physician.

He excelled in sports throughout much of his life, a natural in lacrosse, crew, boxing, and football. He loved sailing, running a charter business out of the Bahamas for over a decade. However, perhaps his favorite sport of all was wrestling, which he did from childhood through college and then volunteering his time to help with the Holy Innocents’ wrestling team for several years. He continued going to the gym well into his 90s, where he frequently mystified men half his age. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Carol Mickler Wood, four children, Wendi (John) McAfee, Randi (Ed ) Spivey, Meggan Wood (Tony Seichrist), Ryan Warner Wood (Mary Catherine Matheny), and five grandchildren, Corley, Andi, Jack, Charlie and Will, as well as many nieces and nephews.