Obituary of Toby Matthew Woods

Toby Matthew Woods, age 18, died on February 21, 2024 in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Toby was born in Stamford, Connecticut on May 10, 2005 to Peter and Kristina Woods. He spent his entire childhood in New Canaan, Connecticut with his parents and his older brother Nicholas.

He was full of joys and loves and deep passions – for classical music, cello, piano, travel, learning, hiking, cooking, Legos, puzzles, business, sushi and urban design. He loved roller coasters, the higher and faster the better. He loved explaining complicated things and he was so amazingly good at it. And it’s hard to convey how much music meant to him, how much it touched his soul – playing it, listening to it, sharing it.

He had a wonderful set of friends – his tight-knit academic group of kids from the high school, his deep connections with his fellow musicians from his orchestra and chamber music groups, and many other individuals that he had incredible one-on-one relationships with even though they weren’t a part of any particular group together. And he shared so many interests and passions with his big brother Nicholas.

He had started his time at Williams College with the energy and enthusiasm that he brought to everything he did, diving into challenging courses in economics, opera, advanced math and philosophy. He had gone hiking and skiing in the beautiful mountains near Williamstown.

He adored the artwork at the Clark Museum. He was involved in multiple music groups including the semi-professional Berkshire Symphony. He always had an eye to the future and so had competed to earn a place in the student-run consulting group. When we visited him on campus this fall, it was so lovely when we’d hear friendly voices calling out “Hey Toby.”

He loved traveling to England to visit extended family. Some of his favorite things were picking out London Underground routes with Nicholas, exploring different London neighborhoods, drinking flat white coffees, eating loads of English candy, and going to as many classical music concerts as he could fit in to the trip.

He always looked forward to our family hiking trips in Switzerland and the feeling of being absorbed in the beauty of the mountains. And he was fascinated by other cities in Europe where he’d seen all of the different ways urban environments can be built, with more space for pedestrians and bicycles and trains, and he dreamed of someday helping to make changes to all of those things here at home.

He is survived by his parents, Peter and Kristina Woods, his brother Nicholas, his grandmother (“Nana”) Elaine Wojcik Lynnworth, his aunts and uncles: Joe and Jane Wojcik, Jackie and Roo Gold, and Richard and Kate Woods. He is also survived by the cousins he loved so much: Alex and Ashley Wojcik and Ellie, Fred and Louisa Gold. He is predeceased by his grandfather (“Papa”) Frank Wojcik and his grandparents Shirley and John Woods (“Granny and Grandpa”).

In lieu of flowers, please send any memories you might have of Toby to his family. Any donations can be made to the Toby Woods Memorial Fund c/o New Canaan Community Foundation, 111 Cherry St, New Canaan, CT 06840 or online at www.bit.ly/TobyWoodsMemorialFund. This fund will be used to support music, education and mental health.

A celebration of his life will take place on Sunday, March 10th at 2pm at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan. All are welcome.