Virginia Ethelyn Woodman passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her beloved family on Feb. 19.
Born April 9, 1924 to George and Alice Bailey, she was the third of six children. Her childhood days of living through the Great Depression helped form the strong, resourceful woman that carried her through life.
Due to the Depression, her family moved several times in and around the Concord and Portsmouth, N.H. areas. During her high school days in Portsmouth, she met Wesley G. Woodman – her first and only love. Since their early courtship, other than his days representing the Navy during WWII, they have spent their days together hand in hand.
After high school, she started work with the telephone company waiting impatiently for “her Wesley” to come home to her. He returned and they married on June 17, 1945. They traveled cross-country by train to his duty station in California as their honeymoon. They built a home together in Rye, N.H. where they raised their family of five children until 1961. She was a homemaker during these years preparing home cooked meals everyday, sewing outfits for her babies, tending her gardens, canning and preparing for the long winters.
In 1960 “her Wesley” made her aware of his desire to change professions and become a minister. Her response: “she would be proud to be a minister’s wife.” They moved to Warren in 1961 to become minister and family of the Second Congregational Church of Warren.
Along with being the best mother, she became the best minister’s wife – she led church groups, baked for church suppers, sang in the choir and became famous for being the director of the annual Couples Club Shows. Her creativity and musical abilities were looked forward to by all in Knox and Lincoln counties. During these years she and “her Wesley” became active in the Order of Eastern Star. She worked through the stations time and again and was honored to be OES State Chaplain.
For several years she drove a school bus for MSAD 40 – her first job outside the home since starting her family. She was mother to busloads of children enjoying each one. She also enjoyed making friends in art classes and displaying and supervising the art space at the Union Fair.
She is predeceased by her parents and all of her siblings.
She is survived by her children, Sandy and Rusty Lufkin of Cocoa, Fla.; Wayne and Faye Woodman of Wiscasset, the late Julie Woodman; Cindy and Tom Bland of Camden; Andi and Kerry Jett of Union and Becky Woodcock and the late Billy Woodcock of Waldoboro; 10 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
Services 10 a.m., Sat., Feb. 23 at Thomaston Baptist Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of her grandson, Jeremy White, at Coastal Opportunities of Camden.
