Georgia Woodward

Altoona, Iowa — Georgia Kaye (Westra) Woodward passed away on the morning of Tuesday, December 21, 2021, as the sun was just about to rise on the shortest day of the year, embraced by the love and comfort of her two daughters. They had been by her side for several days, taking turns overnight, with daily visits from her son-in-law, special time with her two Iowa granddaughters, and FaceTime calls with her grandchildren and son-in-law in Massachusetts. During her last few days, Georgia heard expressions of love and family stories; Christmas music and Broadway tunes; favorite holiday movies; Advent services from the Altoona Christian Church; and, in the hours before she passed, “The Wizard of Oz,” one of her favorite movies, released the year after she was born, an appropriate finale for a colorful, memorable, theatrical character. Georgia’s peaceful, quiet passing at age 83 belied a life of getting things done “with a lot of energy and zeal,” as the mayor of Altoona stated in 2004 when honoring her with the Outstanding Citizen Award. A committed volunteer, devoted church leader, gifted teacher, and lifelong storyteller and gardener, Georgia made her mark from South Dakota, where she grew up and attended high school and college; to Alexandria, Virginia, where her family lived in the 1960s and early ’70s; to Iowa, and especially Altoona, where she and her husband, Bob, lived for five decades in a Victorian house built by an earlier prominent citizen, Thomas E. Haines. Throughout her life, Georgia devoted herself to working with children and families, starting as a speech therapist with the Fairfax County schools in Virginia, where she and her husband moved in 1960 for his Army service at Fort Belvoir. After Bob began working as a journalist, Georgia gave birth to Meredith in 1963, followed by Allison in 1967. By then, Georgia had left the workforce, but she still found time to lead a youth group for teenage girls at the YMCA in downtown Alexandria, where the family lived in an old brick, Southern-colonial-style house on historic King Street. When Bob became a professor of journalism at Drake University in 1972, the family moved to Des Moines and, a year later, to Altoona. Georgia immediately became involved in the community, serving as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader for her daughters’ troops and joining the Altoona Christian Church. As her children grew older, Georgia returned to the workforce. She became certified as an early childhood special educator at Iowa State University and took a job as a consulting teacher for Area Education Agency #11, traveling throughout central Iowa to work with families of infants and toddlers who had special needs. In 1977, she began working for Des Moines Public Schools as an early childhood special educator at Smouse Opportunity School, and later became a Head Start teacher. Well-known in her field, Georgia mentored other special educators, led workshops, spoke at conferences, and served on the board for the Homestead Living-Learning Center for Autistic Adults. In 1999, Iowa Gov. Thomas Vilsack appointed her to the State Early Access Council to oversee services for families and children. Throughout her career, Georgia remained committed to her daughters, driving them to school and various activities; attending their dance recitals, concerts, plays, spelling bees, basketball and softball games; and keeping the house full of after-school treats that drew teenage friends to hang out in the “TV den.” In her nearly 50 years in Altoona, Georgia could be counted on to volunteer, and — as her family well knew — never to get out of Hy-Vee without chatting with someone she knew, or even those she didn’t. She served on the Altoona Public Library board of directors, becoming the driving force to plan and build the current library, and once The Campus opened, she enjoyed swimming and meeting friends for water aerobics. As a member of the Altoona Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she served as an elder, board member, president of the CWF Women’s Group, and new building committee member; attended regional and national church conferences; supported Central Place Family Resource Community Education Center; and assisted refugee families with settlement. She also taught Sunday school and Bible school; played in the bell choir and sang in the choir; and founded and directed Heaven’s Handful Puppet Troupe for children. When she retired at age 62 in 2001, Georgia entered into full-fledged gardening and storytelling. In her yard, she planted hundreds of hostas and kept an herb garden, a lush backdrop to Bob’s splashy tulips and lilies. With the Two River Story-Spinners and Senior Storytellers, she shared tales at the Living History Farms, Des Moines Playhouse, Altoona’s “Christmas in Olde Town,” the Altoona Historical Society, Altoona Public Library, and Altoona Christian Church, dressed as The Sunflower Lady or Mrs. Thomas Haines. She traveled to tell tales at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and, as part of a program that brought American storytellers to China, to a village four hours south of Beijing. Her stories ranged from “The Little Red Hen” and “Anansi the Spider” to homespun tales about her mother’s small-town beauty shop. Georgia also enjoyed traveling with friends and family. With her dear friend Jean Linder, she went to South Carolina, Texas, Oregon, and Vermont. She headed to Montreal, Quebec City, and Chicago with her daughters’ families. She joined Bob, an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, for baseball games at Busch Stadium and the 2004 World Series against the Red Sox. And each summer, they drove out to Cape Cod for a two-week vacation in Eastham, Massachusetts, often joining up with their daughters, sons-in-law, and four grandchildren, all of whom loved the seashore. Although she traveled widely, Georgia’s roots always lay firmly in the Midwest. She was born on November 10, 1938, to two colorful characters themselves: Helen Ruth (Jones) and Robert A. Westra in Beloit, Wisconsin. There seemed to be no doubt that Georgia would become a “super-extrovert” who loved an audience: Even in her first sixth months, Georgia, posed on a blanket, won the “Most Beautiful Baby of Beloit” snapshot contest. She followed in her parents’ footsteps — her father was a salesman who naturally connected with people, and her mother was one of the “Jones girls,” along with sisters Dottie, Muriel, and Babe, known to laugh often, make friends easily, and spread good cheer. When her father left the family during wartime, 3-year-old Georgia and her mother were embraced by the Jones Girls, all living without the men in their lives due to military service, work, or divorce. Helen and Georgia lived with the sisters in California — where Georgia started kindergarten early, at age 4 — and then on to Colorado with Babe, and finally back to South Dakota, where Helen had grown up on a farm. They settled in Tyndall, where Helen co-owned a beauty shop and lived with Georgia upstairs. Eventually, Helen married Stoy Frazier, and the family moved to Sioux Falls. Georgia attended Washington High School, playing the saxophone in the marching band, participating in theater, joining church groups, and waiting tables at a downtown diner. After graduation in 1956, Georgia headed off to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where she pledged Pi Beta Phi, was accepted into Mortar Board, and majored in speech pathology. She found her way to the stage, landing the lead role in the musical “Wonderful Town.” From the audience, Robert D. Woodward of Rodney, Iowa, laid eyes on her, and announced to his friend, “That's who I'm going to marry.” And so it was. Bob and Georgia wed at the First Methodist Church in Sioux Falls on February 7, 1960 — but not until Georgia had received her college degree, upon which her mother had adamantly insisted, in December 1959. They headed to Minneapolis for a quick honeymoon, then reported to the Army base in Indianapolis to live in a Quonset hut. They eventually landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in housing only a tiny bit better. Once Bob’s service ended and he landed a full-time job at The Washington Star, they settled in Alexandria, Virginia. The next few years involved lots of moving: The family lived in Bloomington, Indiana, where Bob got a master’s degree at Indiana University, then back to Alexandria, then on to Des Moines, Iowa, and finally to Altoona in 1973. A gourmet cook who collected cookbooks from all over the world and loved to try new recipes, Georgia was inspired by French chef Julia Child. She enjoyed trying out new restaurants, and she ventured into cuisines and made dishes that her South Dakota upbringing had never known: paella from Spain (she and her dish were featured one time in the Des Moines Tribune food section); Buche de Noel (which she made at the last minute for her daughter Meredith’s high school French class); Chinese egg rolls and stir fries (after a long day at work, Georgia made a full Cantonese meal for her daughter Allison’s birthday); and fancy, candlelit dinner parties in the 1960s for friends and colleagues. For her family and especially for Bob, she mastered less adventurous but equally delicious dishes like pot roast, fried chicken, twice-baked potatoes, manicotti, macaroni and cheese, and apple pie. And on Christmas, she went all-out with a much-anticipated menu that included standing rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, frozen fruit salad, and Scandinavian krumkake, all of which she made in her gingerbread-themed kitchen. An eternal optimist and true believer, Georgia passed away just days before the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus, and three hours before the earth’s turn toward spring, which, as a faithful Christian and gardener, she saw as a time of rebirth, hope, and life here and ever after. Her family will miss their smiling, big-hearted, generous Mom and Noni, and especially remember Georgia on her two favorite holidays, Christmas and Easter. Visitation will be held in the Altoona Christian Church, starting at 9 a.m., followed by a service, on Tuesday, Dec. 28. Georgia Kaye (Westra) Woodward will be buried in Little Sioux Township Cemetery, next to her husband of nearly 60 years, down the road from his hometown of Rodney, and just an hour or so from their alma mater, where they first met, the University of South Dakota. (They wore their red USD Alumni sweatshirts with pride!) Georgia leaves two daughters and sons-in-law, Allison Woodward-Chartier and Dennis Chartier of West Des Moines, and Meredith Woodward King and David King of Acton, Massachusetts; three granddaughters — Kate Chartier, Natalie Chartier, and Madeline King — and a grandson, Andrew King. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, on January 2, 2020; and her mother, father, and aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family is especially grateful to the team at MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care at Jordan Creek who lovingly cared for Georgia until the end, and made it possible for her to pass away in a cozy, warm apartment, surrounded by the family she loved, and the cookbooks, quilts, Polish pottery, and antiques she had collected over the years. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Altoona Christian Church, P.O. Box 456, Altoona, IA, 50009. For more information, visit http://www.altoonachristianchurch.org/.