William H.D. Hood | Activist, drug counselor, 93

William H.D. Hood, 93, a Quaker who fought in World War II and was a peace activist, union organizer and drug counselor, died of pneumonia May 10 at Albert Einstein Medical Center. He was a longtime resident of Germantown.

After graduating from Germantown Friends School in 1932, Mr. Hood earned a bachelor's in economics and political science in 1935 from Swarthmore College.

Mr. Hood married Jean Ash Magill in 1947. She was a civil rights and community activist who died in 2001.

Mr. Hood worked at the General Electric Co. plant in Philadelphia until being drafted by the Army in 1943. He fought in the infantry in two battles in Germany and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was discharged in 1945.

After the war, Mr. Hood returned to GE, but the company was on strike. He walked the picket line along with thousands of other strikers. In 1946, Mr. Hood was wounded during a battle between strikers and mounted Philadelphia police officers.

Mr. Hood was a union organizer while working at Bethlehem Steel, American Pulley and Messimer Wood Dairy until 1962.

He earned a master's in social services in 1963 from Bryn Mawr College before beginning a career as a drug and alcohol counselor for the city and at Temple University. He retired in 1976.

Mr. Hood and his wife were civil rights activists in the 1960s and organized busloads of demonstrators to travel to the March on Washington. They also organized anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. Mr. Hood also was a Democratic committeeman in the 12th Ward from 1972 to 1990.

Mr. Hood is survived by a daughter, Joan, and sons Jim, Tom and Rich; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Daughter Ellen Creskoff died in 2002.

A memorial service was held Saturday.