Richard D. (Dick) Wood Jr., who led Wawa for more than five decades as president, CEO and chairman, died Friday at 88, the company announced Monday.
“For more than 55 years, Dick Wood was the visionary and driving force behind Wawa’s business model, and a pillar of servant leadership, values and culture at Wawa,” the Wawa, Pennsylvania-based company said. “His impact will forever be felt by generations of Wawa associates, family members, customers, business partners and community organizations. He will be eternally recognized as a beloved treasure to the company.”
Wood began his career at Wawa in 1970 as the company’s first general counsel, at the encouragement of Grahame Wood, his father’s cousin and the founder of the first Wawa Food Market, the company said. Under his leadership, Wawa became a household name across the Delaware Valley and beyond and grew to employ more than 36,000 associates in 900 stores across six states.
“He was instrumental in key initiatives that have helped Wawa grow and, ultimately, to soar into new markets,” Wawa said. “A true visionary, he was the guiding force behind Wawa becoming a 24/7 operation, entering the fuel business, expanding to new states and sharing ownership with associates.”
Wood was born on March 4, 1938, in Philadelphia. He attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, received his B.S. from the University of Virginia and his LLB from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the company said.
He was married to Jeanette (Jean) Wood, who preceded him in death in 2025. They had two children, Lisa and Richard.
- Wawa is No. 8 on CSP’s 2026 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
“Dick Wood was our true Lead Goose who was the guiding heart and soul of the company,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s chairman and CEO. “He is the reason why Wawa is the company we are today and why we enjoy so much share of heart from our customers and dedication from our associates. Dick had a profound approach to innovation and business that was truly centered on people, and it’s a philosophy we will all work to carry forward. I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside and learn lessons from Dick. He will forever live on at Wawa in all our hearts.”
Wawa culture
But beyond Wawa’s operational achievements, Wood’s deepest impact lies in the culture he created and championed at Wawa, the company said. A true servant leader, Wood lived by a people first philosophy and believed it was his job to “create an environment where each of us believes that we can make a difference,” the company said.
His passion for the stores ran deep, as evidenced by his tradition of touring stores to remain vigilant to the needs of associates and customers, Wawa said. He empowered people by championing an “ownership mindset” in all of Wawa’s associates, which helped create the family-like bond associates have with customers that remains today. Today, Wawa is the 21st-largest privately held company in the United States, according to the 2025 Forbes rankings.
Wood carried on a legacy of innovation and loyalty that traces back to his great-grandfather, George Wood, who opened the Wawa Dairy in 1902, the company said. George’s grandson Grahame Wood opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 and later brought Wood into the family business. He became president in 1977, CEO in 1980 and chairman and CEO in 1982. He remained chairman and CEO until his retirement in 2004, after which he remained chairman of the board of directors. In 2020, upon reaching his 50th anniversary at Wawa, Wood was appointed chairman emeritus.
During his time as president and CEO, Wood championed Wawa’s private and shared ownership model, Wawa said. He led the creation of the company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 1992, which has now grown associate ownership to 38% of the company.
In 2008, he also established Wawa’s Internal Care Team, a group dedicated to helping the company’s associates celebrate and address life events or issues with empathy and expertise.
‘Remarkable impact on the community’
“Dick had a remarkable impact on the community and he expanded and grew his family tradition of philanthropy,” the company said. Among those causes was a commitment to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which through his leadership, now includes The Richard D. Wood Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, the Richard D. Wood Jr. and Jeanette A. Wood Endowed Chair in Pediatric Diagnostic Medicine, and the Wawa Volunteer Services including the Wawa Coffee and Care Cart, providing patients and families with a cold beverage or hot cup of coffee and comfort while getting care at the hospital.
Wood was often seen pushing the Coffee Cart through the halls of CHOP to serve patients and families at their bedside, the company said. In 2019, Wood was honored at the CHOP Carousel Ball for maintaining an unwavering commitment to CHOP and for demonstrating tremendous generosity, humility and grace. In addition to CHOP, Wood was also a strong supporter of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, where he championed ways to allow everyone to experience the beauty of the gardens. Throughout his career, he inspired everyone at Wawa to serve and support thousands of nonprofit organizations that worked to improve millions of lives and make the world a better place. Today, this can be seen through the impact of Wawa and The Wawa Foundation, which have contributed more than $200 million to community nonprofit organizations since inception.
“Dick Wood was unlike any other CEO I’ve ever encountered,” said Howard Stoeckel, former vice chairperson and former president and CEO at Wawa. “He had a special mix of heart, compassion, empathy and humility that made him a true believer and practitioner of servant leadership. With Dick, people always came first, never him. At Wawa, we have a set of core values that we live by, and Dick is the one who brought them to life and instilled them into our culture. The lessons he taught all of us at Wawa to fly together to reach new heights are alive and well and will be for many years to come.”
Wood was a leader in the convenience-store industry, and he was named and served as chairman of the National Association of Convenience Stores in 1985. Throughout his life, he served on many business and community boards including: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Bok Tower Gardens, Riddle Memorial Hospital, the Philadelphia National Bank, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), QuikTrip, Sheetz, and Pardee Resources Co.
College scholarship
The Dick Wood College Scholarship was launched in 2021 in honor of Dick’s 50th anniversary of service to Wawa associates and his commitment to ensuring everyone at Wawa had the opportunity to grow through education. Throughout his career, he championed college degree programs and tuition reimbursement, which remain part of Wawa’s benefit offer today. To celebrate this commitment and his life, Wawa will expand the scholarship fund to continue to offer opportunities for associates to expand their education. In addition, Wawa will provide support to fund free community days annually to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, making the gardens open to all who want to experience them.
Wood also is preceded in death by his brother Bill Wood in 2001, according to Legacy.com. He is survived by his brother George Wood; sister Elise duPont; his two children, Lisa Wright and Richard Wood; and five grandchildren, Alec Wright, Charlie Wright, Davis Wood, Lucy Wood and George Wood.
His longtime assistant Barbara Ennis said, "Some of our best conversations had nothing to do with Wawa at all. They were about his family, what everyone was doing, and how proud he was of all of them. No matter what was going on, talking about his family always brought a smile to his face,” according to Legacy.com.
On July 20, coffee will be free in all Wawa stores as a way to honor Wood and toast his legacy including customers, associates and communities across the Wawa chain, the company said.
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