July 14, 1961 — January 3, 2024
Sally Elizabeth Woody, age 62 of Rocky Mount, passed away on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 after a brave year-long courageous battle with ovarian cancer. Her war-torn body is finally resting comfortably in Heaven. Although she considered her 62 years on earth as short, her impact on so many others is immense and will continue throughout their lives. She was born and raised in the Sontag area of Franklin County and lived her adult life in the town of Rocky Mount, but she considered the Callaway community, where she taught kindergarten for thirty years, as family.
Preceding her in death are her beloved parents, Dennis Tyree Woody and Mary Elizabeth Price Woody, and her brother, Taylor Carlton Woody. Her grandparents, Albert and Mamie Woody and Carlton and Gussie Price, as well as her special great aunt Annise Craig, also preceded her in death. She was proud of being the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family. Her uncle and aunt, John and Mary Ann Woody, also preceded her in death.
She is survived by two sisters, Linda Price Woody and Pamela Denise (Pam) Woody, both of Rocky Mount. She is also survived by her uncle, C. DeMoss Price and wife Phyllis and special cousin, Warren Price. She is also survived by her other beloved cousins, John, Frances, and Tony Woody; and Melissa (Brian) Harwood, and Staci (Todd) Coppinger.
Sally and her teaching partner, Ruth Journell, will be remembered for their love of teaching kindergarteners and instilling in them a love of learning to guide their students, whom they considered their own children, through their academic years and providing them a good foundation of life skills. A few of these life skills are problem solving, empathy, self-esteem, a sense of community, and to be supportive and kind to others. She will be remembered for being the loving, caring, and supportive friend everyone wanted to lean on.
Sally graduated with a B.S. in Education from Radford University in 1983 and a Master’s in Education from Virginia Tech. Upon graduating from Radford, she spent a year as a long-term substitute teacher for the Franklin County School System. She then became a Special Education Teacher at Lee Waid Elementary School in August 1984. After three years, she transferred to Callaway Elementary School as a Kindergarten Teacher until her retirement in July 2017.
Her students will remember Pete the (classroom) turtle; her love of Winnie the Pooh, panda bears, and Dr. Seuss; the elaborate and stimulating learning stations in her classroom; the many original songs that were sung to guide preferred behavior and learning; the annual Kindergarten programs that would rival any Broadway production; the adventures of the 100 day and other special recognition activities; and the festive graduation ceremonies. It was always a pleasure to see the children interact with her both in school and outside of school. She met each teaching challenge with love and her guiding hand towards improving the child’s learning and life experiences. These skills also carried over to the children at Beulah Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School and helped produce Christmas Programs and singing by the children, youth, and special needs for the congregation.
Neighbors will remember the beautiful flowers, birds, and butterflies she was so proud of in the yard. Her love of nature began early in life as instilled in her by her father, Dennis, and great aunt, Annise. Her family will remember her for her continuation of teaching at home with her “teacher voice” and her opinion of preferred behavior in any situation. They would take all this into consideration but did not always follow through but knew that it was all done in love and with the goal of helping others.
Donations may be made to Beulah Baptist Church CHILDREN AND YOUTH PROGRAMS. The address for Beulah is 4220 Sontag Road, Rocky Mount, VA 24151. Callaway Elementary School has several funds to help students and teachers through their PLAYGROUND FUND (currently going on) (playground privileges were the prime example of the teacher always wins!), their LIBRARY FUND (she loved for children to enjoy reading) or their BENEVOLENT FUND (to help meet student needs). The Callaway School address is 8451 Callaway Road, Callaway, VA 24067. GO COLTS!!
Funeral services will be conducted at Flora Funeral Chapel on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service. Conducting the service will be Rev. Eric Winn. Interment will follow in Franklin Memorial Park.
The family would like to thank all the prayer warriors for their love, support, and involvement in this battle. Sally was still teaching the world throughout this last year and living her faith in Jesus Christ. She encourages all women to be aware of their health and strongly advocate for themselves in the medical world.