Soul of 78- Terry Wood

Retired Pharmacist

Words by Micah Harrison | Image by Al Blanton

“Nobody had really ever gone to school in our family,” Terry Wood recalls about his upbringing.

Wood, a Jasper resident, was raised in Empire and graduated from Dora High School in 1976. By age 15, he was already working as a pharmacy technician at Big B Drugs in the Dora Shopping Center. He spent weekends and afternoons behind the counter and filled in during the summer when staff were on vacation. After high school, he briefly enrolled at Walker College but chose instead to continue working in the pharmacy field.

For the next seven years, Wood worked at a pharmacy that filled prescriptions for the United Mine Workers. During that time, he met his wife, Delores, and the couple married in 1980. He later expanded his work in the pharmaceutical industry, delivering medical equipment and medications to long-term care facilities. Still, by the time he turned 30, Wood felt the pull toward higher education. “When I hit thirty I decided, ‘I’ve got to do something,’” Wood remembers. In 1989, he attended his first college classes.

He enrolled at a Brewer State satellite campus in Jasper, housed in what had once been a bread store. Taking classes at night and on weekends allowed him to keep a full-time job during the day. While he was a student, Brewer State merged with Walker Technical College to become Bevill State Community College. After completing his prerequisites, Wood applied to pharmacy school.

In 1993, he was accepted into the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University. For the first part of the program, he continued working early mornings and weekends. As coursework grew more demanding, he scaled back on hours to devote himself to studying. His efforts paid off when he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree.

Wood’s career quickly gained momentum. He first worked with Pharmacy Care Systems, where he was promoted to full-time pharmacist. He then spent five years behind the counter at Son’s Pharmacy in Jasper before taking the job that would define his career: pharmacist at English Plaza Pharmacy. From October 2001 until his retirement in May 2025, Wood became a fixture there, serving patients for nearly 24 years.

Looking back on his 50-year career, Wood is clear about what he valued most. “There’s a lot of good people in pharmacy,” he says. “I enjoy the people… it’s not just putting pills in a bottle.”

Though officially retired, Wood still occasionally fills in at English Plaza. These days, however, he spends more time outdoors and with his family. His oldest son, Zach, followed in his footsteps as a pharmacist with the same company, while his youngest son, Cory, became a physical therapist. Retirement has also brought a new joy - his first grandchild, born during his very first summer away from full-time work.

And after decades inside the pharmacy, Wood is making the most of his free time. Whether fishing, golfing, or simply enjoying the sunshine, he’s embracing the new season of life he’s worked so hard to earn. 78