Ismene Wood (née Marcos)

Passed away peacefully in Ottawa, 8 March 2022,  aged  96. Widow of the late William “Bill” McKenzie Wood, Canadian career diplomat, Ambassador and veteran of WW2. Beloved mother of Anthony (Claudia) and Alexandra. Cherished and proud grandmother to Nicolas, Sophia and Brian. Predeceased by her sister Dione Dodis last month, and her parents Eriphyle Kypreou and Panagiotis Marcos. Born in Karachi, Pakistan where her father worked for the Ralli Brothers, she spent her early childhood in what was formerly known as British India before moving to Greece, their homeland. In the early 1950s Ismene worked as Social Secretary for the US Embassy in Athens where she met Bill Wood on his first foreign posting with External Affairs.  In 1955 Ismene moved to Canada, got married, became a proud Canadian, and followed her husband supporting him and their two children on numerous postings around the world including Brussels, Tel Aviv, Paris, Port-au-Prince, and Kinshasa, always spending summers in her beloved Greece. Back in Canada she enjoyed a long career in residential real estate.  Ismene will be remembered by many as sharp, lively, and for her storytelling, as well as her love of family gatherings and of entertaining guests at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club and elsewhere.  She was most interested in history (especially Napoleon and the Ancient Greek philosophers), and in keeping abreast of current world news.  Ismene deeply enjoyed listening to music (especially Maria Callas and Caruso), going to art exhibits and lectures including those of Canada’s Retired Heads of Mission Association. She was an avid bridge player always striving to improve her game. Ismene loved nature and flowers, her early morning swims in the Pond in Ottawa and in the Aegean Sea, as well as cross-country skiing. She adored Louis, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that her daughter brought back from Greece in 2019. Ismene was a long-time parishioner of both the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church and of the of the St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church of Ottawa. She was very happy at the Chartwell New Edinburgh Retirement Residence which she called her home since mid-2017. Thank you to staff and management there as well as to the doctors and staff of the Montfort Hospital where she was admitted briefly after a fall. A private family service will be held at a later date. In memoriam donations are welcomed to any of following charities she was active with: the Hellenic Community of Ottawa, the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies, the Canadian institute in Greece, the Parnassos Hellenic Cultural Society of Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and the National Gallery of Canada. For online condolences please visit www. Beechwoodottawa.ca