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Floyd (89) and Marie (88) Woodard, Lived and Died Together

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Bill Schenley

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Mar 30, 2011, 9:42:52 AM3/30/11
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Gallatin couple lives, dies together
Woodards cared for each other, others

Photo: http://tinyurl.com/6bxqwtk

FROM: The Gallatin (TN) News Examiner ~
By Dessislava Yankova

Some people would say they are meant to walk through life together, and
sometimes they even depart together.

That appears true for Gallatin couple Marie Boze Woodard, 88, and Floyd
Winburn Woodard, 89, who lived 71 years together as husband and wife, always
caring for each other as well as others. They were always near each other,
just as they were when they passed away in the same hospital within nine
hours of each other on Thursday, March 24.

"They were just such simple, humble and good people," their daughter Jane
Edwards said. "They didn't think of themselves as special people. They just
tried to be kind, hard-working people, the people God wanted them to be."

Maybe the Woodards didn't think of themselves as special, but others sure
did. More than 500 friends and family members came to visit with the family
on Friday, March 25 before the couple was buried in a funeral ceremony on
Saturday.

Double wedding

A double wedding on Aug. 23, 1939 began the story of their shared life as a
married couple. The Woodards exchanged vows in the double ceremony with
their best friends in Bowling Green, Ky. Marie Boze and Floyd Winburn had
each grown up in a small community in Smith County, Tenn., near the Defeated
Creek, about 40 miles east of Gallatin. Although Marie and Floyd didn't talk
about it, their children believe they met at church.

"She was 17 and he was 18 when they married," their daughter Connie Kittrell
said. "For a long time, they lived off farming."

From Smith County, the Woodards eventually moved their farming operation to
Gallatin. Raising tobacco plants and dairy cattle provided a comfortable
lifestyle for years.

"Connie and I had a very loving upbringing," Edwards, 63, said. "I always
knew there would be a warm meal on the table, heating and cooling, and Mommy
and Daddy would be there to talk to us and take care of us. I never had the
worries that I see some children have today. It was a very secure
environment, the type of upbringing any child would want to have."

And then from time to time, everyone jumped in the family Pontiac Bonneville
for a basketball or a football game adventure nearby or as far away as
Nashville, Springfield or Clarksville. "The car was always full, and it wasn't
just family," Edwards said.
"We could take as many friends as we could pack in the car. And Daddy always
drove fast."

He was a 'cattle whisperer'

Another activity Floyd, or F.W. as many knew him, enjoyed was farming, a
trade he stuck with for much of his lifetime. After a number of years
laboring with tobacco, a difficult crop that became too hard on his body,
F.W. started hauling cattle at stock sales, something he did better than
most.

"There was nothing prettier to him than a herd of cattle on a green
pasture," Kittrell, 56, said. "It's God's creation, and my sister and I, we
loved it, too. My dad was a gentleman, and he could handle cattle better
than anybody I've seen. He never raised his voice or used a stick. He used a
soft tone and his hands, and he could get those cows to do anything. Animals
just trusted him. People speak of a horse whisperer, and I'd say Daddy was a
cattle whisperer."

She had 'angel touch'

Marie Woodard helped her husband farm and enjoyed gardening, and she also
was passionate about caring for others. She finished nursing school and went
on to a 23-year nursing career at Sumner Regional Medical Center.

"As the oldest girl of nine children, our mother started taking care for
others at a very early age and continued that until the end," Kittrell said.
"It requires putting everybody's needs before yours, and she always did
that. She had a gift, a magical touch of an angel."

And while she touched numerous lives, Marie Woodard didn't speak of her
patients, but many have reached out to the family to say thanks.

"A lady emailed me and said, 'When I had my children, your mother brought
them to me,' and that was compassionate and special to her," Edwards said.
"And I didn't know that. Momma's nursing career was a ministry to her."

Marie Woodard also cared for others by cooking. She loved cooking for family
and friends on all occasions.

"My mother's fried chicken and green beans were just unbelievable!" Kittrell
said. "And her biscuits, oh she made wonderful biscuits. But the best thing
was her chocolate chip cookies. I don't know what it was. They weren't too
hard or too soft. They were just right."

Joined in eternal love

Their hobbies and activities, however, hardly kept them away from their
biggest love - one another. The pair did most activities together, such as
watching Lady Volunteers basketball and Atlanta Braves baseball games on TV.
They also played cards with many friends from the Gallatin Rook Club.

Although F.W. in later years had Parkinson's disease and dementia, the
couple lived well and independently in their Gallatin home until Jan. 23,
when Marie Woodard broke her hip in a fall and sustained a head injury
followed by partial memory loss.
Following surgery and a two-week hospital stay, she was transferred to the
Gallatin Health Care center for rehabilitation on Feb. 9. The next day, F.W.
joined her there. A week later, however, he fell, broke his hip, and
remained in a coma until he passed away on Thursday at 3:10 a.m. She joined
him at 11:40 a.m., approximately nine hours later.

"Although they were unconscious, we rolled Mommy into Daddy's room and let
them visit," Kittrell said through tears. "One of the sweetest moments was
when we reunited them at the rehab center. Momma was in a wheelchair, and
Daddy leaned down to hug her, and she hugged him back. That was one of the
last moments my parents were aware of everything. There was not a dry eye
anywhere. It was just amazing how much they loved one another."


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