Obituary
Greenville, SC / Virginia (Ginny) M. Woodard, 86, passed away Sunday, February 11, 2018 at her place of residence, Greenville, SC.
Born on December 16, 1931 in Stanley, New York, Ginny was the second of four children of the late G. Russell and Doris (nee LaDue) Hurlbutt. She was predeceased by son Paul (2017) and granddaughter Emily Woodard (2008). She was a 1949 graduate of Gorham Central School, Gorham, and a 1964 graduate of Elohim Bible Institute, Castile. She always spoke of her teen years at LeTourneau Christian Camp on the shores of Canandaigua Lake as the favorite memories of her life including when she came to faith in Jesus at age thirteen. After high school she was employed at the New York State Experimental Station in Geneva. In her latter years she was employed at Trinity United Methodist Day Care in Greenville for over twenty years. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Mauldin, SC.
Left to grieve her passing are her six children: Rev. Dan (Deanna) Woodard of Carstairs, Alberta, Canada, Tim (Glaiza) Woodard of Pampanga, Philippines, Becky (Bill) Bridges of Fountain Inn, SC, Ruth (Tony) Leger of Seneca, SC, Andy (Jan) Woodard of Pelzer, SC, and Rachel Poole of Greenville, SC; her three siblings of Stanley, NY: Russ Hurlbutt, Audi (Buck) Brown, and Ted (Sandy) Hurlbutt; her ex-husband Robert Woodard of Greenville; twenty-seven grandchildren, forty-four great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.
Ginny was a fun-loving lady in her youth and early twenties. Her love for Canandaigua Lake and the family cottage prompted her to buy her own red canoe of which she was very proud. She was very relational, warm and friendly, always supportive and caring for the needs of others, always ready to listen. Her daily focus was always others. At the peak of mothering her seven children in Silver Springs, NY she baked eighteen loaves of bread every week. Her hands and arms were the bread machine. Her care-giving skills showed best when she had a baby in her arms. Under stress she was the epitome of patience, flexibility, dependability, loyalty and endurance. One of the primary talents she passed on to most of her children was playing the piano.
In her thirty-second year of marriage she experienced an epiphany when she read Dr. James Dobson’s Love Must Be Tough. This new understanding of relationships prompted her to begin viewing herself as worthy of respect and dignity and she began living with a new level of courage and resolve. She found employment down the street doing what she did best, caring for babies. Today her fingerprints are on the lives of over a thousand people whom she held in her arms as babies. Who could ever forget her signature statement? “The easiest thing in the world we do is underestimate the intelligence of birth to six-month olds!”
In 2010 Ginny was diagnosed with early dementia. This reality, combined with over a half century with asthma, made life increasingly challenging. Three years later she began yet another chapter when she could no longer care for herself and required assisted living with 24/7 oxygen. For the next four years she was cared for by the ever-diligent caregiving staff of Morningside of Seneca, eventually moving to Pendleton Manor where she spent her final seven months. Even in her slow but steady memory decline she was always her kind, friendly self, always concerned about others around her. Upon breathing her final breath on this earth she no doubt leapt for joy to begin breathing pure celestial air with no assistance from a portable oxygen tank.
Family and friends may call Sunday, February 18, 2:30-5 PM at the Kenneth J. Perkins Funeral Home in Gorham. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, February 20 at 2 PM at the funeral home. Burial will take place in the Gorham Cemetery immediately following the funeral. Donations in Ginny’s memory may be made to Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs.