Copiah County Medical Center (CCMC) honored its long-time Board Chairman Carroll V. Hood at a Memorial Tree Planting Ceremony last month on the grounds of the hospital.
Hood died in October. He was 85 years old.
Carroll was born on June 29, 1936, in Copiah County. He attended Hazlehurst High School and Co-LIN. He served in the Air National Guard and Army National Guard for nine years and received an honorable discharge. He and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Warren Hood, were married for over 65 years and had five children.
An accomplished businessman and land developer, he was president of Hood Petroleum Company, Inc; Copiah Oil Company, Inc.; and HICO, Inc., General Insurance Agency. He was in the LP gas business for 17 years, the interstate and intrastate trucking business for 30 years, the wholesale tire and appliance business for 15 years, and the cattle business for 25 years.
Carroll held numerous leadership positions and served on many boards in his professional career: chairman, Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board; board of directors, Mississippi Economic Council; president, Mississippi Chapter, Missouri Fox Trotter Horse Breed Association; State Fuel and Energy Management Commission; executive board, Copiah County chairman, S. M. B. Andrew Jackson Council Boy Scouts; commissioner, Mississippi Employment Security Commission; board of directors, Kimbrough Investment Company, member, Research and Development Council; chairman, Farmers Home Committee; member, Mississippi State Parole Board; member, Board of Economic Development. He represented the Southeastern Region of the United States on the Gates Rubber Co. Dealer Council.
Carroll loved his hometown of Hazlehurst and served his community in a number of ways. In addition to chairing the CCMC board, that service encompassed the board of directors, Bank of the South; board of directors, Copiah County Economic Development District; former president, Copiah Industrial Development Foundation; and former president, Copiah County Economic Development District. He was a member of the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce, the Mississippi Petroleum Marketers Association, the Mississippi Cattleman’s Association, Rolling Hills Country Club in Crystal Springs, and the University Club in Jackson. As president of the board of trustees of Copiah County Medical Center, he was instrumental in the building of the new hospital in Hazlehurst. He and his wife received the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
Carroll is survived by his loving wife, Elizabeth; four children, Linda Hood of Peoria, Ill.; Jerry (Kimberly) Hood, of Wesson; Perry (Linda) Hood, of Hazlehurst; Karen (Joe) Coates, of Wesson; 18 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; his brother, Larry Hood; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father, R.S. Hood; his mother, Carrie Dell Hood; his brothers, Sidney Hood, Robin Hood, and Dale Hood; his sister, Peggy Hood Catchings; his daughter, Shelia Hood Puryear; and his grandson, Brandt Hood.
A funeral service was held Oct. 14 at Hazlehurst United Methodist Church. Interment was at Hazlehurst Cemetery.