WOODARD, Helen (Delozier)

Helen Gene Delozier Woodard (February 9, 1914 - September 30, 2010) was born the daughter of a coal miner in Fork Ridge, Tennessee, the youngest of ten children of Andrew and Mattie Delozier. The family moved to Stilwell, OK, when Helen was a young child. She was allowed to enter school at the age of twelve and graduated as valedictorian of her class at age twenty-one. She then began to take college courses, one or two at a time, until she was able to graduate from the Oklahoma College for Women when she was in her mid-forties. She became a teacher at the age of forty-seven, working at Edwin J. Kiest Elementary School in east Dallas until her retirement. She was elected to Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary teachers' sorority, and served as the first president of the Eta Eta chapter in Dallas. She was also an active member of the Dallas Women's Forum for many years. She was a woman of sweet spirit and quiet determination. Helen and her late husband of sixty years, Joe M. Woodard, were members of Wilshire Baptist Church since they moved to Lake Highlands from Oklahoma in 1960. They served there in many positions of leadership until their health limited their service. They were also an active part of the horticultural community in Dallas, especially the American Rose Society and the Old Garden Rose Society, which they helped to found, and the Dallas Arboretum, which they also helped to establish with a small group of friends. Their kitchen table served as the first office of the Dallas Arboretum while he was the first (interim) director. They published a monthly magazine, the Green Thumb, which was distributed to patrons locally and around the world. Helen is survived by daughter Patricia Spurlock and her husband Bob of Plano; grandchildren Leigh Mann of Dallas, Paul Spurlock of Plano and Joel Spurlock of Manhattan, Kansas; great-grandchildren Patrick, Stratton and Hayden Mann of Dallas; daughter Karen Burr and her husband Bill of Richardson; granddaughter Kristen and husband Scott Vousboukis of Iwakuni, Japan; great-grandchildren Alex, Elizabeth and Jonathan Vousboukis; granddaughter Angie and husband Terry Barnes, Jr., of Spring, TX, and great-grandchildren Terry III, Alexa, Wylie and Maggie Barnes. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews in Oklahoma, Tennessee and around the country. Service will be at Restland's Wildwood Chapel at 12:30 Tuesday, October 5, with burial to follow. The family will receive friends on Monday evening from 6 o'clock until 8 o'clock at Restland.