Ann Caveness Brown Wood Obituary (1947

Mrs. Ann Caveness Brown Wood, 78, of Booneville, Mississippi, passed away Wednesday, January 21, 2026, after a lengthy illness. Born June 30, 1947, in Booneville, Mississippi, Ann was one of a kind. She could put her make-up on in the car while eating her breakfast and look like a supermodel. She fell in love with Mickey Wood at the age of 15 and never fell out. They were to celebrate 63 years of going steady this week. She was the queen of the unexpected. At age 4 she climbed onto the freshly painted roof of the 2-story house at 700 Washington Street. She was safely retrieved, albeit covered in red paint. At 7 she escaped 2nd grade and walked all the way home from school to the other side of town for fear of getting in trouble for coloring on her desk. Her big sister was her best friend and her big brother was everything a big brother could be. In June of 1966 she married the love of her life. They spent the next 60 years raising six children: singing, laughing, and loving each other. She loved to embarrass Mickey, and could do so with ease. Once, as newlyweds, the two went grocery shopping. Mickey was pushing the buggy, and Ann was picking out a chicken. When she found one, she threw it and yelled, ‘Hey, Mickey!” way too late for him to catch it. The chicken went sliding down the aisle and Mickey pretended he didn’t know her. On another trip to a department store they happened to be near the women’s lingerie when a store attendant took notice of the pair. Ann told the woman, “Don’t worry, we don’t need anything. My husband just likes to walk through here.” She taught special education for 32 non-consecutive years, starting a pre-school called “Busy Bee Daycare” in the early 90s so she could stay home with her last baby, Kathryn. When it finally came time for her to retire, she did so by announcing that “The SPED has hit the fan!” (SPED is short for Special Ed). Just weeks ago on the way home from dialysis she said “I guess I’m going to have to go to teacher meetings for the rest of my life.” The old adage is true: Once a teacher, always a teacher. The greatest lesson that she taught us all was that family and friends are everything, and everything else is just everything else. She loved and was loved fiercely. She is survived by her husband, Hugh Michael “Mickey” Wood, her children, Anna Laurin Simpson (Bradley Carlton Simpson), Leigh Carol Ghanami, (Freddie Ghanami), Juliet Caveness Henderson, (Joey Henderson), Paul Michael Wood, (Rebecca Carol Wood), Charles Graham Wood, (Britney Mitchell Wood), and Kathryn “Kitty” Windham Johnson, (Luke Johnson); her grandchildren, Bradley Carlton Simpson, Jr. (Kaylynn Simpson), Richard Darren Simpson, Markee Christina Collins, Hugh Murphy Collins, Macey Ann Collins, Jesse Caveness Couret, John Michael (Jack) Thompson, Carlie Rebecca Shields, (Jesse Shields), Callie Elizabeth Lyon, (Dr. Forrest Lyon), Emma Grace Olsen, (Wyatt Olsen), Sarah Kathryn Wood, (fiance’ Paxton Bastain), Hugh Michael “Mikey” Wood, Liza Tatum Wood, Maggie Jane Johnson and Annie Monroe Johnson; great- grand children Noah Shields, Sadie Shieds, Reid Lyon, Cooper Lyon, Bennett Lyon, Raeleigh Mae Baca, and Raelin Eve Pankretz with two more coming in March and June. She was proceeded in death by her father, William Richard Brown, mother, Eula Mae Caveness, sister, Mae Carol Berryhill, brother, William Richard Brown II, and a grandson, William Ryan Simpson. Visitation will be at the Booneville Funeral Home in Booneville, MS, from 5-8pm on Thursday, January 22, 2026. The funeral will be held at the Booneville Funeral Home on Friday, January 23, 2026, at 11:00, with an hour of visitation immediately preceding at 10:00am.