Joy Ann Woodward
July 17, 1943 - November 4, 2024
Joy Ann Woodward She was born Joy Ann Rhodes on July 17, 1943 in Seattle Washington. She is the daughter of Elmer G. Rhodes & Caroline J. Rhodes and sister to Judy K. Ruark. Joy grew up in the north Seattle area. Joy became birthday buddies with Disneyland on her 12th birthday, July 17, 1955 when Disneyland had its grand opening. Conveniently she had family in southern California and so began a lifelong love for Disney. She went to Roosevelt High School where she met her future husband Robert James Woodward. She was petite to say the least. As our dad told the story, she weighed about 98 pounds in high school and when he took her out to dinner for the Sr. prom they shared a 64 oz steak, she ate about two bites, and he ate the rest.
They lived in Lake City and Lake forest Park where they raised three children: Sandy, Jeff, and Jason. She enjoyed family, which was highlighted by many house parties with friends and families that included a number of Tupperware parties, fondue parties, holiday parties, and hot tub parties. These were truly great parties we fondly remember, hors devours, drinks, a giant meal, family and friends, a lot of smiling and laughing.
She loved: chocolate, shopping, antiques, shopping, nuts (almonds in particular), popcorn, ice cream, Dr Pepper, sun-shine, Christmas (because it involved shopping and lots of decorations with her name on it), she also loved QVC, which was a miserable decade or more of Home shopping network Christmas gifts…
Joy also loved to travel. Her love for sunshine ment trips to the beach and many boating adventures on Lake Washington, Puget Sound and over to the coast. Her travels outside the Pacific Northwest included multiple flights to Hawaii, Carnival cruises, New Zealand to see her son-in-law compete for team USA in the international 6-day enduro, Disneyland (many times), Japan, and Legoland.
She was a career woman. After high school she had a brief stint working at a local bank. In 1964 with the birth of her first child she shifted gears and became a stay at home mom. Later after the birth of her third child she went to work for a local printing company. There she held various jobs including customer service representative and a stint in sales. She liked her work and was proud of her accounts which had some notoriety like Kodak, the Costacos Brothers, and the Seattle Mariners. Her career was also very convenient for family and friends needing wedding invitations.
Joy moved to Snohomish in 1998. This move brought her closer to family and most importantly the eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren she would love and enjoy over the next 26 years. She retired from full time work in 2009 with a lifetime supply of notepads in hand:) She also enjoyed being a member of the Snohomish Assembly of God, as well as Hope Church.
Mom began showing signs of Dementia a few years back. We moved her to Brookdale Sr Living center in 2023 to help with that and she met some really great people there. Earlier in 2024 she relocated to Serenity Heights adult living home that specializes in memory care where she spent her final days. It is a beautiful home with a kind and loving staff lead by Ms. Lili, and we are grateful to them.
Her oldest, Sandy and daughter-in-law Jolene, deserve all your love and thanks as they were instrumental in making sure Joy’s final years were as good as they could be. Dementia took its toll on both of them and mom. Her final meal was a double chocolate doughnut and ice cream. She was never alone, with many friends and family visiting in final months, weeks and days.
With the sun shining on her most of the day, Joy Ann Woodward crossed over peacefully shortly after 6pm on Monday November 4th, 2024.
Rest in peace momma, Love You Always and Forever, Sandy, Jeff, Jason and family