Kevin Royce Wood was born 15 December 1969 at Morenci, Arizona the second son of Royce Raymond Wood and Sherril Yvonne Brannan. Their little family, which included his two brothers, David Raymond and Darrel James, lived in Duncan up until the time it was discovered that Kevin was deaf. His parents were concerned that Kevin was unable to hear but didn't convince themselves of it until his dad decided to prove it once and for all by dropping a coffee can full of silver dollars onto their hardwood floors while Kevin was sleeping. Kevin wasn't disturbed by that at all. They then began the long journey of getting Kevin diagnosed and educated. Kevin's mother was exposed to Measles while attending a baby shower when she was pregnant with him. That is what caused his deafness. He was profoundly deaf from the time of his birth.
The family decided that it would be best for them all to move to Phoenix in order to get Kevin the assistance he needed. Kevin's education began at a very early age. His parents and siblings had to learn American Sign Language in order to communicate with him. It was an education for the whole family. The trick for his parents in the early years, was to learn more signs than the kids knew so that they would always be "in charge". It was tough, but they made it. Kevin was smart and learned to sign quickly but he was very stubborn and ornery, too. As an example of his mischievousness, when he was about 10 years old he loved riding around and around the backyard swimming pool on his "Big Wheel" tricycle, going as fast as he could, and as close to the edge as he could. One day while his dad was working outside near the pool, keeping his eye on Kevin, he turned his back and then heard a loud splash! Kevin had misjudged the closeness of one of his hairpin turns and ended up going off the edge into the shallow end of the pool. It was the dead of winter and he was wearing a big, heavy coat and cowboy boots that filled up with water, which weighed him down so that he couldn't raise himself up to the surface. His dad jumped into the freezing water and pulled him up, kicking and screaming…as soon as he could get the water out of his mouth! Kevin was as mad as a wet hen, but we couldn't keep from laughing at his antics. It was scary, but it was funny, too. Kevin had quite a sense of humor and got a big kick out of teasing his brothers and parents. But, he didn't much appreciate being the butt of jokes, himself.
Kevin attended Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind in Tucson from the age of seven years until about nine years old. He would spend the week at school in Tucson and then ride the Greyhound Bus up to Phoenix to spend the weekends with his family. He was obsessed with the bus at that age and wanted to be a bus driver when he grew up. He was always talking about how much fun he had riding the bus and was always drawing pictures of himself as the bus driver. After those few years in Tucson, it was decided to move his education to Phoenix at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf. It was much easier for Kevin to be living at home with family all the time, instead of just visiting on the weekends. While at school Kevin was a very motivated student. He was always willing to ask questions in order to understand how to do whatever was required of him. Kevin was recognized for his Outstanding Work Experience and Computer Achievement as well as Best Effort Language. He excelled at wood shop and made many items for his family to enjoy. For his father, he made a very clever vintage airplane that they hung from the ceiling with fishing wire, so that it looked like it was flying. He also made a Nativity puzzle that the family always displayed at Christmas time.
Kevin graduated from High School at Phoenix Day School for the Deaf in 1989. He worked on the Roadrunner Yearbook Staff that year, to his great delight. His Senior Class went on a cruise together for their Senior Trip. They all worked very hard to be able to pay for their own expenses on that trip. They had the time of their lives! It was a topic of discussion for years afterwards, too.
By the time he had graduated, his passion for Greyhound Buses had waned and he was completely consumed with computers. He attended Eastern New Mexico University at Roswell where he studied computers. He attended Maricopa Skill Center where he earned Certification as a Clerk Typist. Later he attended Northland Pioneer College where he earned Certification in Computer Technology, becoming a PC Technician. He was very talented in that technical field. He always managed to find work that let him utilize his computer skills. He even owned his own computer repair business in Lakeside, DARYL. He worked as a Teacher's Aide for Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind at Whiteriver, Arizona while living in Lakeside. He spent time employed with a mail order prescription service, Express Scripts Rx, where he managed prescription data entry for hospitals and pharmacists. He was employed as a Mail Clerk for Official Mail Central as well as a Package Handler at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. Also, as a Package Handler for FedEx Ground in Tucson and Show Low, and other delivery companies, until his health would not permit such physical labor. Kevin was always employed; it was very stressful for him not to be able to work.
Kevin loved to spend time outdoors with his family going fishing and camping. The mountains and the lakes were always favorite destinations. One time when the boys were still quite young, we went camping at Roosevelt Lake. The weather turned cold and started to rain, so everyone gathered inside the tent that we had pitched earlier. It looked like it was going to be awhile before the rain stopped, so it was decided that we should bring the ice chests inside, too, so that we could eat out of the weather. All was well until it was time to climb into the sleeping bags for the night. The plug on the ice chest had come out and all of the bedding was soaked! That was the last miserable night that we ever spent in a tent! From then on we had a camper loaded onto the back of a truck or a trailer to pull to keep us warm and dry! Another time we decided to spend Thanksgiving at Hawley Lake. We had our camper and an additional camp trailer for the boys and some other family friends with us had their rig, too. We had a great time until the morning we woke up to a snow covered camp! We decided that we had better get out while the getting was good. We left the trailer and loaded everything as fast as we could into the camper and our friend's motor coach and headed down the slippery slopes to home. It was quite a wild ride! Kevin was always ready to share in whatever activities the family had planned for the holidays and birthdays and family reunions. If there was any way he could make it, he was sure to be there.
Kevin absolutely loved cats and they adored him back. He always enjoyed the family dogs, but his cats had his heart. He even had his Christmas cards adorned with photos of himself and his cat, "Ababy". She lived nearly 17 years. He was pretty lonely without that cat for the last couple of years, since she passed. Kevin was also fascinated with owls. He loved seeing photos of the different types and colors of owls. He adorned his walls with owls and they were present in his online persona.
Kevin was not blessed to find a wife in this life, though not from lack of trying. He would have dearly loved to have his own wife and children. He loved, and was loved by, his whole family including his many aunts, uncles, cousins, niece and nephews.
Kevin was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In recent years, he was a very dedicated genealogist and spent many hours researching his family tree. He worked hard to see that his ancestor's ordinances were completed in the Snowflake Temple. Much good came from him and that which he did on their behalf.
Kevin knew what adversity was and he was triumphing over it. One of the things mentioned in his Patriarchal Blessing is that "he had the marvelous gift of being able to listen with his heart". We have all witnessed that he was a very tenderhearted soul. He loved the members of his Lakeside Ward; you were his second family and really looked out for his welfare. He loved living in the White Mountains and being part of your community. We are happy to know that he was so well loved by you, too.

A memory shared by his Aunt, Linda Wood Pearce:
Kevin, my nephew, was the most exceptional child, being born deaf didn't slow him down, he was independent and self assured. But, my favorite memory was at age one. I was watching Kevin and the other boys, David and Darrel, while Royce and Sherril were out of town for a few days. As a teen myself, I was overwhelmed with three boys so close in age. I fixed Chicken and Stars Soup for their lunch. I got Kevin into the high chair, David and Darrel sat down at the table. Whew, took a deep breath! Turned around and there was Kevin with the bowl over his head, chicken star noodles hanging off his beautiful long eye lashes and big brown eyes just sparkling. We all were laughing and he was so proud! I will miss you. I hope you know how proud I am that you lived your life so independently.