NAHB Mourns the Passing of Past Chairman Tom Woods

Tom Woods, 2015 NAHB chairman, passed away on Monday, Sept. 21.

A Blue Springs, Mo.-based home builder and its former mayor, Woods formed his first company in 1969 and served as president of Woods Custom Homes. His firms developed scores of communities and more than 1,000 homes in the Greater Kansas City area.

“Tom Woods was a ‘muddy boots builder’ to his core, the kind of man who would rather be out on the site with his crews than behind a desk,” shared NAHB CEO Jim Tobin. “He didn’t just lead the industry; he working alongside the people fighting for it.”

“He always said, ‘'It’s OK if we lose, as long as the other side comes out with a bloody nose,’” said Shawn Woods, Tom’s son and president at Ashlar Homes LLC. “His motto was ‘Never Give Up’ - something he lived by and imparted down to generations.”

Woods was elected president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City in 1991 and named Kansas City’s Builder of the Year in 1995. Woods chaired NAHB’s Federal Government Affairs, State and Local Government Affairs and Education committees, as well as BUILD-PAC, NAHB’s political action committee.

“I was lucky to call Tom a friend,” Tobin added. “Some of my best memories with him came not from a boardroom, but out hunting, where his humor and his character came through as plainly as they did in his work. Our association grew stronger because of Tom, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him is better for it.”

In addition to his work at NAHB, he received a presidential appointment to serve on the Des Moines Federal Home Loan Bank board from 2002-2005. Woods also received a national achievement award from Professional Builder Magazine in 1999 for his work in education in the home building field while chairing the Home Builders Institute, NAHB’s workforce development affiliate.

“I want the people on the Hill to understand just how strong we are and how many people we really have with us if we only articulate our message well,” Woods had stated. 

Woods is survived by his wife, Yvonne; his son, Shawn, and his wife, Lindsey; and his daughter, Tonya Ernsting, and her husband, Robert; and four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Home Builders Institute online at HBI.org or via check to:

Paula Morris
Home Builders Institute
1201 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Please include “In Honor of Tom Woods” in the memo.