Garry William Woodward

Born in Vancouver B.C. on June 13, 1945, Garry (Woody) Woodward passed away peacefully on April 16, 2021, surrounded by the love of his life, Mary-Ann and his two daughters, Tammy (Andrew) and Julie (Greg). He is also survived by his son Arlynd, his grandchildren Jodi, Rachel, Brandon, Emma, Madison, and Maverick, his sisters Linda and Verna and brothers John and Rob, as well as many nieces and nephews. Woody also leaves behind many friends who will remember him with fondness. Woody was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Elsie, brothers Allan and Alec, sister Pat, nephew Neil, and many friends who he considered family.

Woody spent much of his childhood travelling Canada, the USA, and Jamaica with his parents who were missionaries and his siblings. As a bit of a rebel, Woody set out on his own at the ripe old age of 15 and travelled and worked in many places. He often shared stories of his life as a young man in New York, Connecticut, and B.C. and the all the mischief he got into. Once back in B.C., Woody had a brief marriage to Julie (nee Kroeker) and welcomed son Arlynd in March 1968. Woody and Julie’s marriage ended amicably, and they went their separate ways, but resumed a friendship later in life.

In 1973, Woody met Mary-Ann and asked her to marry him after they had only been dating a week. She made him wait a year and on December 7, 1974 they were married in New Westminster surrounded by close family and friends. They enjoyed a loving marriage for 46 years. Woody and Mary-Ann welcomed their first daughter Tammy in August 1975 and second daughter Julie in April 1977. Woody was a devoted husband and father and always worked hard to provide for his family, which sometimes meant changing jobs when he got bored or fed up. Woody once made a list of all the jobs he worked, some for a few hours and some for a few years, and tallied up that he had over 100 jobs in his lifetime. When he wasn’t working, Woody could be found puttering on cars, spending time with his family camping, boating, and fishing, playing crib or poker with friends, hitting the Bingo hall or casino with Mary-Ann or just home watching the evening news, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy.

Woody enjoyed spending time with his family, celebrating birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. At these times he would joke how he was outnumbered by women. So, he was happy to see his daughters marry and bring sons-in-law, Andrew and Greg, into his life to help even things up. But the next generation brought more girls than boys and Woody was still outnumbered, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way. His greatest joy was being Papa to all his grandkids, Jodi, Rachel, Brandon, Emma, Madison, and Maverick and Uncle to his nieces, Joyce and Maya.

In 2009, Woody finally retired (kind of) and moved to Chilliwack. During his retirement, Woody enjoyed many hobbies and could be found watching the sprint car races, going on tours with the VCC, driving the forklift at Ritchie Bros, cheering on the Chilliwack Chiefs, taking in a ball game at Townsend park, helping out his neighbours, visiting garage sales, fishing, camping and taking trips to Mexico. Woody was a character with his sparkling blue eyes, mischievous smile, wicked sense of humour, charming wit and that ever-present white handlebar moustache and he made friends wherever he went. His amazing ability to tell a story and his “Woody-isms” will be missed by all.

Over the past year, Woody bravely battled cancer with the loving support of Mary-Ann, who was always by his side to provide him with care, comfort, and to accommodate his every culinary wish (Bacon ‘n’ Eggers and butter chicken were often on the top of his list). Throughout it all Woody remained true to himself and enjoyed spending time with family and friends to share a story and a laugh. Although he is gone, he will never be forgotten. Due to Covid restrictions, we are unable to have a celebration of life that Woody deserves, so we encourage everyone to celebrate him in your own way for now.