Obituaries

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On September 21, 2018 at age 96, Shirley S. Woodward embarked on a heaven-bound journey to reunite with Richard “Dick” Woodward, her beloved “knight in shining armor” and her beautiful mother, Lucille (Muttie) Broadie.

Shirley felt very blessed to be born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She loved Denver and it's surrounding beauty. After graduating from Denver’s South High School, Shirley attended the University of Denver. During World War II, while a USO volunteer at Lowry Army Air Corp Field in Denver, she met Dick Woodward. The simple gesture of “sharing a peach from the western slope of the Colorado Rockies” led to a whirlwind courtship. Shirley and Dick were married two months later in November 1944. Within a couple of years, Shirley gave birth to the first of her seven children, which marked the beginning of a wonderful “career” as a tremendously devoted wife and imminently successful mother. Shirley was the rock, navigating the family through several challenging relocations across the western US, then eventually heading east and landing in Midland, MI. For Shirley each new location became the family's “home”.

Shirley was always about having fun. She delighted in family get-togethers and playing games, including Skit-Skat, hearts, bridge, charades, gin rummy, Scrabble, Go Fish, and Old Maid with young and old alike. She loved dancing the night away with Dick, who she lovingly called “Papa Bear”. And, when Big Band music was playing, you could bet Shirley and Dick were out “cutting a rug”. Shirley proudly admitted to being a “night owl”, often the “last one to leave the party”. Her guilty pleasure was to occasionally journey to the local Casinos to face off with an evil “one-armed-bandit” or video poker machine. Shirley always remained humble, but with a little coaxing, you might hear that she scored a couple of Royal Flush Jackpots!

Being the mother of five boys and two girls, “Mom” attended (with only slight exaggeration) roughly “a million” baseball games, football games, speech competitions, wrestling matches, baton/cheer events, and dance recitals. The running joke amongst the siblings was how Mom was always bragging about “her boys”, while it was clear that she absolutely adored her two girls! Shirley beamed with pride at the mere mention of each of her “kids”. The family was her passion!

Shirley always put others before herself and had a genuine interest in and curiosity about people. When in conversations with others, it was all about “what’s going on your world”?

Shirley loved the outdoors, whether it was gardening in the yard or hiking in the Rocky Mountains. She especially loved the family camping trips, which took her brood all over Michigan and the Western U.S.

After 64 years of marriage, in January 2009, her beloved “knight in shining armor” went to heaven to patiently await their next dance.
Shirley is survived by her seven “kids”, Rick (Richard) Woodward (Bonnie) of Woodbury, MN, Rex (David Rex) Woodward (Sue), of Gilbert, AZ, Mary Beth (Bunny) Mitchell (Dave) of Sanford, MI, Randy Woodward (Laurie) of Lake Wylie, SC, Ron Woodward (Gaye) of Elk Rapids, MI, Roger Woodward (Tamme) of San Jose, CA, and Carol Grillo (Rob) of Canton, MI. Shirley is survived by thirteen grandchildren, including Stephanie, Kim, Marcae, Matt, Ryan, Abbey, Michael, Kevin, Kyle, Jaclyn, Brandon, Daniel, and Bri, and eleven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her devoted and dearest friend , “adopted daughter”, Nancy Hieb.

A visitation will be held on Monday October 15th at the Ware Smith Funeral Home, 1200 W. Wheeler St. from 6:00 to 8:00 p. m. On Tuesday, October 16 an 11:00 a.m. memorial service is planned at the First United Methodist Church, Midland, MI, with visitation there from 10:00 a.m. until time of the service. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the Richard E. Woodward Family Scholarship Fund #563 c/o Midland Community Foundation or a gift to the Alzheimer's Association.

The family wishes to express special thanks and gratitude to Shirley's “other family” at King’s Daughters of Midland, who provided her amazing care, friendship, and love for the past 2 years.

If you are unable to visit with the family in person you may send your condolences through www.waresmithwoolever.com.

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