Obituary of Elisabeth Mathilde Wood

Elisabeth Mathilde Wood passed away on Thursday, March 12 in her residence at Brooksby Village in Peabody, MA, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Beloved mother of Crispin Wood of Arlington, MA, and Georgia Wood and her husband William Riddell of Haddonfield, NJ. Proud grandmother of Haley Wood of Arlington, and Martin Riddell of Haddonfield. Mathilde was born in Germany, on May 9, 1934. She attended school in Germany before immigrating to the United States in 1956. She met John Wood while working as an administrator at MIT. Mathilde left MIT to get married and later raise children in Lexington, MA where she continued to live for 50 years before moving to Brooksby Village. In addition to raising a family, Mathilde was a skilled ceramics artist and teacher who won awards for her pottery. She also earned a master's degree at Lesley College (1978) and later went on to work at various local companies before returning to MIT. Mathilde retired from MIT in 2004. Mathilde loved her family and friends and enjoyed visiting with any and all of them whenever possible. She had a 25+ year relationship with Jim Ewing, until he passed away in 2013. The two of them enjoyed traveling and took many trips in the U.S. and abroad. Per the Wood family's request, Mathilde’s services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association of Massachusetts at www.alz.org/manh.