Jeremy Wood, brother of Christopher Wood (NH, 1978) and father of Ben Wood (NH, 2017) and Hannah Wood (W, 2020), died unexpectedly on 4 May 2026. The following obituary has been provided by Jeremy’s family.

Jeremy was born in Nairobi on 10 December 1964, joining his older brother Christopher and, as Christopher fondly recalled in his eulogy, completing the ‘fourth corner of the family square.’ Their parents, Ron and Ailsa Wood, had both moved to Kenya in the early 1950s, meeting while working respectively for the Colonial Police Service and British Education in the Kenya Colony.

From the beginning Jeremy was energetic, mischievous and insatiably curious. As a young boy he developed an early fascination with anything mechanical, preferring toy lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners to conventional toys. This fascination with gadgets and machinery remained with him throughout his life. He was also captivated by aviation from a very young age, an enthusiasm that would become a lifelong passion and later be passed on enthusiastically to his son Benjamin.

Jeremy began his education at Marlborough House, the family school run by his mother in Westlands, Nairobi, before becoming a boarder at Kenton College and later joining Cheltenham College, first at the Junior School and subsequently at Newick House. Friends and contemporaries remember him as great company: witty, irreverent, sociable and constantly entertaining. Stories from his school years included elaborate practical jokes, apple-pie beds, inventive use of fire exits and a mischievous streak that never entirely disappeared. One contemporary recalled Jeremy's enthusiasm for the CB radio craze of the early 1980s, which proved unexpectedly useful when Newick House conducted a nocturnal ‘rocket campaign’ against Christowe. While miniature rockets flew across the November sky, Jeremy calmly coordinated lookouts and communications, relishing the unfolding chaos as only he could. His humour emerged early in life; family members recalled how, as a boy, he once attempted to rewrite the Tintin books ‘more realistically’ – complete with profanities – before the manuscript was swiftly confiscated by his older brother.

At College, Jeremy became an RAF cadet, reflecting the deep interest in flying that remained central throughout his life. After school he returned briefly to Kenya, gaining his private pilot’s licence at Wilson Airport, before heading to Switzerland to study at the Les Roches Hotel Management School in Crans-Montana. There he discovered another lifelong passion – cooking – and while undertaking an internship in Ouchy met Tanja, who would later become his wife. Friends would later become regular beneficiaries of his culinary talents, with Jeremy earning a reputation as an exceptional cook and generous host whose dinner parties were often as memorable for the laughter as they were for the food.

In June 1999 their son, Benjamin, was born, followed two years later by their daughter, Hannah. In late 2002 the family returned permanently to Kenya after Jeremy joined his father in expanding Nairobi Vintners into a leading wine and spirits importer and distributor in Kenya. Over the following two decades he became a well-known and highly respected figure within the local hospitality and drinks industry, combining sharp commercial instincts with his characteristic warmth, humour and ability to build lasting relationships.

Family life in Kenya revolved around safaris, weekends at the coast and time spent with friends and extended family. Jeremy particularly loved Watamu and later purchased a boat, Imbuko, which quickly became his pride and joy. Named after the Xhosa word roughly meaning ‘admiration for,’ Imbuko became synonymous with Jeremy himself: generous hospitality, laughter, sangria of questionable strength, family and friends gathered aboard, and long evenings watching the sun set over Mida Creek.

One of Jeremy’s greatest qualities was his loyalty to others. Close friends describe him as ‘an oasis of sanity’ whose unwavering friendship, stoic support and irrepressible humour helped many people through difficult periods in their lives. His humour – often mischievous, occasionally outrageous and always quick-witted – was legendary amongst those who knew him. Years spent in the police had equipped him with a dark sense of humour and an extraordinary ability to bring levity even to difficult situations. Yet beneath the jokes lay immense kindness, compassion and steadfast loyalty.

Jeremy was deeply devoted to his family and immensely proud of his children. In September 2013 he proudly returned to Cheltenham College to drop Benjamin off at Newick House, a particularly meaningful occasion as Benjamin was allocated the very same cubicle Jeremy himself had occupied decades earlier, a moment Jeremy regarded as a perfect full circle.

He is survived by his wife Tanja, children Benjamin and Hannah, brother Christopher, extended family and a wide circle of friends across the world. He will be remembered with enormous affection, admiration and gratitude by all who had the privilege of knowing him.