Estelle Josephine Wood had nearly beat cancer
for the second time, and was on her way to get her last round of shots when a
Mack garbage truck hit the side
of her Lincoln Continental last week.
Wood, known as "Miss Jo" by friends
and family, was a philanthropist who gave tens of thousands of dollars each
year to local causes, including organizations dedicated to ending domestic
abuse, a youth church program in her native California and a South Carolina Moose
Lodge, her children said.
The wreck happened at about noon Friday not
far from her home.
Miss Jo was a U.S. Army veteran, and after
divorcing the father of her children, married her high school sweetheart from
New Jersey, stockbroker W.P. Wood, who has since died.
Tammy Wootton, the youngest, said her mother
had an infectious laugh and improved everything she touched, from her time on a
farm as a child to her children and grandchildren.
His mother had beaten colon cancer in the
early 1990s and had just had her final chemo treatment for cervical cancer; she
was headed to get a supplementary shot, her last step before getting a test to
clear her.
The wreck happened just minutes from the home
he shared with her and on the way to AnMed Health Medical Center, he and one of
his brothers drove past the wreckage.
On the way back from the hospital, Guy
Wootton said he stopped to get a picture of the truck and the name of the
company on the door.
He asked a man at the truck if he was the
driver. It was Anthony Maye, 63, a driver for Powell's Trash Service. And
Wootton punched him.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” he said. “But I did
hit him several times.”
Wootton was charged with third-degree assault
and battery and spent about three hours in the Anderson County Detention
Center.
Anthony Maye was cited by the South Carolina
Highway Patrol for disregarding a traffic signal. His company did not respond
to a request for comment.
credit: mike Ellis
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