MOUNT VERNON — Robert Arlington Woodward, 84, of Mount Vernon died Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon.
Robert was born Oct. 23, 1924, in Barker, N.Y., to Robert A. and Carrie (Dickinson) Woodward. He grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, and served in the Army Air Corps for three years during World War II. Following the service, Robert attended The Ohio State University in Columbus and graduated in 1949 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was employed at Columbus Bolt and Forge Co., at Cooper Bessemer Co. in Mount Vernon for 23 years and retired from the J.B. Foote Foundry in Fredericktown in 1986. Robert had been a longtime member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He had served this society in many capacities, at the local, regional and national levels. He helped to organize and then chair the society’s Huron-Niagara sub-section in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, in 1962. He chaired their Central Ohio Section and served four years on the National Nominating Committee. He also served as vice president of the society’s five-state region in 1990 and 1991 and later served on various committees and boards before his retirement in 2007.
Robert had served as a member of the Board of Directors of United Way of Knox County and was a member of the Gay Street United Methodist Church in Mount Vernon.
He is survived by his wife, Lea (Speece) Woodward, whom he married in 1948; his son, Robert Alan Woodward of Kent, Wash.; his daughters, Caris Lea Eschenauer of Corunna, Ind., and Aleta Kim Woodward of Cleveland; two grandchildren, Eric Eschenauer and Dawn (Toby) Chow; and his sister, Helen Lawyer, of Madison, Ohio.
Besides his parents, Robert was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Lou Reames.
Friends may call Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Dowds-Snyder Funeral Home, 201 Newark Road, Mount Vernon. Funeral services will be Monday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Dr. David Baker officiating. Burial with military honors by the Knox County Joint Veterans Council will follow at Mount Vernon Memorial Gardens.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund at the Gay Street United Methodist Church, 18 N. Gay St., Mount Vernon, OH 43050. To send an online condolence to the family, visit www.snyderfuneralhomes.com.
The Dowds-Snyder Funeral Home in Mount Vernon is honored to serve the family of Robert A. Woodward.