Called the "grandfather of the American amusement park," Wood opened Storytown USA in 1954, then a single-themed "amusement center" on the southeastern edge of the Adirondacks.

Intended as a place where children could immerse themselves in the nursery rhymes of Mother Goose, the five-acre park was opened with $5,000 and staffed with just four employees including Wood's wife.

Now part of the Six Flags Inc., the former Storytown has evolved into the 150-acre Great Escape -- one of America's oldest theme parks featuring a waterslide park and more than 125 rides.

The owner of several Lake George-area hotels and restaurants, Woods was also known for his love of kids, and co-founded with actor Paul Newman the "Double H Hole in the Woods Camp," a camp for critically ill children in Lake Luzerne.

He donated millions of dollars to northern New York charitable organizations through his Charles R. Wood Foundation. His generosity also benefited area hospitals, libraries, and theaters.

In appreciation of Wood's philanthropy, a theater and a cancer center in Glens Falls was named in his honor.