May 16, 1933 - Nov 8, 2023
Dennis Tyree Woody, age 90 of Rocky Mount, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 after several months of health issues. He was born in the Sontag area of Franklin County and spent his later years living with his daughters in their home in the Town of Rocky Mount.
Preceding him in death are his wife Mary Elizabeth Price Woody and his son, Taylor Carlton Woody. Also preceding him were his parents, Albert Taylor Woody and Mamie Frances Preston Woody, as well as his brother, John Preston Woody and sister-in-law Mary Ann Patterson Woody.
He is survived by his daughters, all of the home, Sally Elizabeth Woody, Linda Price Woody, and Pamela Denise (Pam) Woody. He is also survived by a brother-in-law, C. DeMoss Price, Jr. and his wife, Phyllis; nephews, John and Tony; nieces Frances, Melissa, and Staci.
Dennis will be remembered for his sweet demeanor and smile as well as his philosophy of putting others before self. He was also easy going and saw the world through positive eyes.
He was a man of strong faith and was a long-time active member at Beulah Baptist Church serving in various roles.
Dennis graduated with the first class from Franklin County High School in 1951. He worked the family farm with his father and brother from 1951 to 1955 and then part-time after that. He served in the Army from 1954 to 1955 at Fort Monroe, Virginia as a military policeman and transport driver. He worked at the General Electric plant in Salem from 1955 until his retirement in 1988.
He met his wife of 57 years, Mary Elizabeth Price, on a blind date and they were married November 18, 1960. They raised four children. He continued to parent his daughters until his death who listened but may not have always complied. Upon his retirement from GE, the Rocky Mount Walmart opened and despite him never shopping, he went to Walmart every day to usually buy only one item. That was an excuse to take his wife a late breakfast every day while she worked at Franklin Memorial. After her retirement, they ate lunch out daily, despite rarely eating out when they were working and raising a family.
He enjoyed the outdoors. He had a garden all his life, raising many vegetables for the dinner table. In his later years, after leaving his home in Sontag to live with his daughters in Rocky Mount, he continued to raise tomatoes (his favorite), cucumbers, and squash. He liked to share with neighbors and friends but the groundhogs and deer thought the feast was for them. He tolerated flowering plants for his daughters.
He read the newspaper and watched the news on TV every day. He liked to discuss current events and solve the world’s problems on the porch with his neighbor Bill and who ever visited. He enjoyed watching sports on TV and insisted the TV be on NASCAR, football, or college basketball and not on his daughters’ shows.
He requested donations be made to the American Heart Association (352 Church Ave. SW, Roanoke, VA 24016) or the American Kidney Foundation (5450 Peters Creek Rd, Suite 213, Roanoke VA 24019) or the Beulah Baptist Church Shoebox ministry (4220 Sontag Road, Rocky Mount, VA 24151).
Funeral services will be conducted at Flora Funeral Chapel on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. with visitation with the family one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow in Franklin Memorial Park. Conducting the service are Rev. Eric Winn and Rev. John Quinlan.
His family would like to thank all the prayer warriors for their support and involvement in this battle.