He was a homeless man who rode a bike on Hilton Head, but his life was so much more

Editor’s note: Longtime columnist David Lauderdale retired on July 31. We are reprinting some of his best columns as a tribute to his 43-year career. This column originally was published Dec. 2, 2005.

The obituary in The Island Packet didn’t list the most unusual facet of Douglas Wood’s life on Hilton Head Island. He was homeless.

But neither did it tell that Douglas held a law degree, helped facilitate early loans for Sea Pines, was a real estate high roller, and played the stock market until he died Nov. 28, 2005, in a Hampton Inn bathroom, apparently of a heart attack. He was 68.

The tall, white-haired, often-bearded man was an island fixture for 21 years. Most would recall him riding a bicycle in the Mathews Drive area or poring over the internet at the library.

“He was the antithesis of Hilton Head, but over time he embraced it,” said Chuck Cole, a friend of 14 years and owner of Vic’s Tavern. “Because of some choices he made in his life, he didn’t always have the dignity in life that he deserved.”

Douglas was sober for all but maybe 10 days after his brother, Dr. G. Thomas “Tom” Wood III of Moss Creek, rescued him from a flophouse in their hometown of High Point, North Carolina.

Tom, one of the first doctors at Hilton Head Hospital and its former chief of staff, brought his younger brother to the island in 1984.

The few people who really knew Douglas say he was a brilliant, kind, mercurial, multifaceted man. He’d certainly had a great fall.

Hot ‘Lanta

As an envoy for Mills B. Lane Jr., president of the old Citizens & Southern National Bank in Atlanta, Douglas had first come to Hilton Head to do business with Sea Pines founder Charles E. Fraser.

The bank sent Douglas around the world to meet people who might need to borrow big money. When Douglas left banking, he became one of the leading producers in a prestigious, old-line Atlanta real estate firm, the Adams-Cate Co.

In those days, Douglas didn’t ride a beach bike with plastic grocery bags dangling from the handlebar. He drove a yellow convertible Jaguar. He was married and had two children. They moved from a nice house to a giant house in a posh neighborhood with a full-time maid. He had a farm with horses.

But all was not well.

Actually, things were terribly wrong beneath the surface.

Hilton Head

Tom Wood says his brother suffered from toxic hyperthyroid medical problems. And that was topped by alcohol abuse and a bipolar, manic psychological illness.

Douglas lived recklessly and lost his family, his job, his assets and most of his friends.

“He got in a car and came down to Hilton Head to see me around 1975 or ’76,” Tom recalled. “It wasn’t his car. It was one of his buddy’s cars in the real estate business.

“It was an example of how manic he was. I didn’t realize it at the time. It was a convertible Buick, and he ran out of gas on South Forest Beach Drive and ... left it in a ditch. He went up to the Hilton Head Inn and asked for the president’s suite. He stayed two or three days before they figured out he wasn’t the same Douglas Wood who used to come down to see Mr. Fraser.”

Merrill Lynch

Douglas tried Atlanta and High Point again before a cousin called Tom and asked him to help.

Back on Hilton Head, Rock Purdy gave Douglas a job selling shrimp. He later worked at Bi-Lo at Port Royal Plaza, setting out the produce.

Tom — like almost everyone else — came to a point he had to cut Douglas loose. Douglas could needle people, even his strongest defenders. He didn’t want to live a normal life, they say. And personal hygiene was not a priority.

“From probably 1993 up until he died, Douglas lived in different shacks and trailers and people’s houses or whatever,” Tom said.

Douglas loved the beach. He was a faithful member of the YANA Club (You Are Not Alone) and devoted to Alcoholics Anonymous.

He went to the Rev. Roy Graves’ Grace Community Church, sometimes several times a week. Douglas read his Bible daily and memorized long passages.

And Douglas had his regular morning rounds. Before dawn, he rode his bicycle through the drive-thru lanes at McDonald’s and Starbucks, picking up dropped coins.

He said that between that and Social Security, and living like he did, he was well off.

“When my mother died in 1994, she left Douglas $30,000 or so, which he invested — wisely,” Tom said.

“He was always a numbers guy. He carefully studied the stocks on the internet at the library and was a friend of everyone at Merrill Lynch.”

Cancer

In June, Douglas had major surgery due to colon cancer. Then came chemotherapy. Tom said Dr. Rick Hussong Jr. and Dr. Gary Thomas did masterful jobs. Everyone at Hilton Head Hospital treated him royally, even though he looked like a Civil War correspondent, with a long beard and hair sticking straight out.

Soon Douglas started showing up again at his friend Bill Berkes’ roadside seafood and produce business — Barnacle Bill’s.

Douglas wanted to grow and sell Mexican petunias and ravenia flowers at Barnacle Bill’s. He said they’d grow anywhere, and their purple blooms would be beautiful. Since Labor Day, Douglas dutifully had been planting and watering the flowers, even though he was in a lot of pain.

As Douglas and Bill finished work the Tuesday before he died, it was cold. Bill said, “Douglas, where are you staying tonight? Let’s go to the Hampton Inn. You can get a warm bath.”

Douglas agreed. Bill took him and gave him $100 to pay for it. He did the same thing Wednesday.

Bill didn’t see Douglas on Thanksgiving Day, but on Friday Douglas showed up with two $100 checks.

That was the last time they saw each other.

“On the place where it says ‘For’ on the check, Douglas wrote ‘Help,’ ” Bill said.

“Then he drew a crucifix on Mount Calvary with a circle around it.”