Fred Hood passed away May 5, 2026, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. He was born on June 3, 1946, in Grenada, MS to parents Chief B.S. Hood II & Juel Boyd Hood. He graduated from Louisville High School in 1964, followed by serving in the Mississippi National Guard. In 1969, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education at Mississippi State University, where he also served as the Drum Major for the Famous Maroon Band during his four years there.
His love for music led to him playing the organ and leading the music in various churches, with many of those years devoted to West Heights Baptist Church in Pontotoc, MS as the organist. He shared that love of music with his wife Carol, and together they played for numerous weddings over the years. They were also both heavily involved in the Clarksdale Community Theater where she directed him in his leading role of “The Nerd”.
In 1972, he began his career in the healthcare field at Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale, MS. In the span of his eighteen years there he held various titles, ending with Assistant Executive Director for Planning, Development and Human Resources. In 1990, he joined the Tupelo-based North Mississippi Medical Center, as the Administrator overseeing the hospital and long-term care operations in their Pontotoc facility. During his time there he was recognized and awarded for continuing his education which resulted in him achieving Fellow, the highest administrative level you can achieve. After twenty-four years in this role, he retired from the healthcare field in October 2014. As a child he was fascinated with buses, and prior to retiring from healthcare, he added another title to his resume in 2001 – bus driver. His twenty-three years of driving the ‘Papa’ bus started with Pontotoc Travel, followed by O.R. Tours, Starkville Trailways, Callahan Charters, and ended with the last seventeen of those years working for Cline Tours.
In addition to getting people where they needed to go via bus, he also took on representing the jolly old man who delivers presents once a year to every good boy and girl. For fifteen years, he was Santa Claus for the ‘Polar Express’ trips out of Calera, Alabama. He was also Santa in Pontotoc’s annual Christmas parade for twenty-five years. He loved to just live life. He had a serious side when needed, but anyone who knew him well understood he was a kid at heart who had a fantastic sense of humor, collected trains and clowns, and owned more pairs of crazy socks than any one person ever should.
He was a people person. He loved and truly cared about people and never failed to put others’ needs above his own. Of all the titles he held throughout his life, his favorite was undoubtedly ‘Papa’ to his five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He loved his Lord and Savior and always reminded those he loved to ‘put God first in everything you say and do’. He loved his family fiercely with a gentleness and kindness that will forever be remembered.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Carol Pettey Hood and his parents, Chief B.S. and Juel Hood.
He is survived by his two daughters Carol Ann Hood and Amy English (Randy); five grandchildren – Preston Jones, Ethyn English (Lauren), Haley Wilson (Austin), Anna Scott Boyette, and Alex Boyette; six great grandchildren – Carter Jones, Riley Jones, Walker Jones, Decker English, Grant Wilson, and Collins Wilson; two siblings – Dr. Bill Hood (Billie Lane) and Candy Hood Gordon.
Services will be held Friday, May 8, at 2PM at West Heights Baptist Church in Pontotoc with visitation on Thursday, May 7, from 5pm until 7pm and on Friday from 1pm until time for service.
