Paul Edward Woods, a retired Daily American Republic printer whose name was familiar to thousands of area residents through his many years of writing outdoors columns, died unexpectedly early Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, at Westwood Hills Nursing Home.
Mr. Woods, 84, was born on Dec. 6, 1933, to a family of meager means in a small home on the bank of the Black River on Poplar Bluff’s East Side. He was one of nine siblings born to Charlie and Hazel Wright Woods. A 10th child died in infancy.
At age 9 he began carrying a large newspaper route on foot in his home neighborhood along North Riverview Drive, but soon saved enough money to buy an old, used bicycle to make his job easier. By his early teens, he began working after school in the mail room of the DAR. Still saving his money, Mr. Woods recalled buying his mother a wringer washing machine to replace the wash tub and scrub board she was using to care for nine children and a husband.
On graduation from Poplar Bluff High School in 1951, he was offered a job at the DAR as an apprentice printer affiliated with Local 635 of the International Typographical Union. Four years later he began a 46-year career as a journeyman printer that saw the old “hot metal” printing process transition to a computerized operation. For many years Mr. Woods wrote his Ridge Runner outdoors column in the DAR.
An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Woods was an early leader in the Southeast Missouri Sportsmen’s Association and active in its projects. He was a dedicated coon hunter who served as secretary-treasurer of the Bluetick (coon hound) Breeders of America. He also judged bench shows and night hunts in the region.
He was a lifelong member of the Church of God, serving as secretary-treasurer and a choir member at West Side Church of God.
Mr. Woods was married on Oct. 31, 1954, to the former Ruth Elaine York. She survives. In 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Woods moved from their home in Poplar Bluff to a new underground home near the Butler-Carter County line and began raising mink, ferret and fox for the fur trade.
Other survivors include a daughter, Paula (Ron) Tibbs of Poplar Bluff; a son, Mike Woods of Arkansas; five grandchildren, Mark (Bethany) Tibbs, Christopher (Katie) Glass, Jamie Kellerman, Rebecca (Will) Jones and Emilee Woods; 14 great-grandchildren, Amber, Alexis, Addysen, Crystal, Brayden, Willow, Maggie, Rowan, Hunter, Kaden, Adalee, Kristen, Chloe and another Alexis; two great-great-grandchildren, Teagan and Ava; and two sisters, Barbara (Ed) Lemons, Overland Park, Kan., and Imogene (Walter) Jones, Poplar Bluff.
Mr. Woods was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Doug; three brothers, Walter, Richard and Bill, and three sisters, Kathryn, Ruth and Alberta.
Visitation for Mr. Woods, who will be cremated, will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the West Side Church of God with a memorial service scheduled for 4 p.m.
Cotrell Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Paul Woods.
Mr. Woods, 84, was born on Dec. 6, 1933, to a family of meager means in a small home on the bank of the Black River on Poplar Bluff’s East Side. He was one of nine siblings born to Charlie and Hazel Wright Woods. A 10th child died in infancy.
At age 9 he began carrying a large newspaper route on foot in his home neighborhood along North Riverview Drive, but soon saved enough money to buy an old, used bicycle to make his job easier. By his early teens, he began working after school in the mail room of the DAR. Still saving his money, Mr. Woods recalled buying his mother a wringer washing machine to replace the wash tub and scrub board she was using to care for nine children and a husband.
On graduation from Poplar Bluff High School in 1951, he was offered a job at the DAR as an apprentice printer affiliated with Local 635 of the International Typographical Union. Four years later he began a 46-year career as a journeyman printer that saw the old “hot metal” printing process transition to a computerized operation. For many years Mr. Woods wrote his Ridge Runner outdoors column in the DAR.
An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Woods was an early leader in the Southeast Missouri Sportsmen’s Association and active in its projects. He was a dedicated coon hunter who served as secretary-treasurer of the Bluetick (coon hound) Breeders of America. He also judged bench shows and night hunts in the region.
He was a lifelong member of the Church of God, serving as secretary-treasurer and a choir member at West Side Church of God.
Mr. Woods was married on Oct. 31, 1954, to the former Ruth Elaine York. She survives. In 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Woods moved from their home in Poplar Bluff to a new underground home near the Butler-Carter County line and began raising mink, ferret and fox for the fur trade.
Other survivors include a daughter, Paula (Ron) Tibbs of Poplar Bluff; a son, Mike Woods of Arkansas; five grandchildren, Mark (Bethany) Tibbs, Christopher (Katie) Glass, Jamie Kellerman, Rebecca (Will) Jones and Emilee Woods; 14 great-grandchildren, Amber, Alexis, Addysen, Crystal, Brayden, Willow, Maggie, Rowan, Hunter, Kaden, Adalee, Kristen, Chloe and another Alexis; two great-great-grandchildren, Teagan and Ava; and two sisters, Barbara (Ed) Lemons, Overland Park, Kan., and Imogene (Walter) Jones, Poplar Bluff.
Mr. Woods was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Doug; three brothers, Walter, Richard and Bill, and three sisters, Kathryn, Ruth and Alberta.
Visitation for Mr. Woods, who will be cremated, will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the West Side Church of God with a memorial service scheduled for 4 p.m.
Cotrell Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Paul Woods.
Paul Edward Woods, a retired Daily American Republic printer whose name was familiar to thousands of area residents through his many years of writing outdoors columns, died unexpectedly early Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, at Westwood Hills Nursing Home.
Mr. Woods, 84, was born on Dec. 6, 1933, to a family of meager means in a small home on the bank of the Black River on Poplar Bluff’s East Side. He was one of nine siblings born to Charlie and Hazel Wright Woods. A 10th child died in infancy.
At age 9 he began carrying a large newspaper route on foot in his home neighborhood along North Riverview Drive, but soon saved enough money to buy an old, used bicycle to make his job easier. By his early teens, he began working after school in the mail room of the DAR. Still saving his money, Mr. Woods recalled buying his mother a wringer washing machine to replace the wash tub and scrub board she was using to care for nine children and a husband.
On graduation from Poplar Bluff High School in 1951, he was offered a job at the DAR as an apprentice printer affiliated with Local 635 of the International Typographical Union. Four years later he began a 46-year career as a journeyman printer that saw the old “hot metal” printing process transition to a computerized operation. For many years Mr. Woods wrote his Ridge Runner outdoors column in the DAR.
An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Woods was an early leader in the Southeast Missouri Sportsmen’s Association and active in its projects. He was a dedicated coon hunter who served as secretary-treasurer of the Bluetick (coon hound) Breeders of America. He also judged bench shows and night hunts in the region.
He was a lifelong member of the Church of God, serving as secretary-treasurer and a choir member at West Side Church of God.
Mr. Woods was married on Oct. 31, 1954, to the former Ruth Elaine York. She survives. In 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Woods moved from their home in Poplar Bluff to a new underground home near the Butler-Carter County line and began raising mink, ferret and fox for the fur trade.
Other survivors include a daughter, Paula (Ron) Tibbs of Poplar Bluff; a son, Mike Woods of Arkansas; five grandchildren, Mark (Bethany) Tibbs, Christopher (Katie) Glass, Jamie Kellerman, Rebecca (Will) Jones and Emilee Woods; 14 great-grandchildren, Amber, Alexis, Addysen, Crystal, Brayden, Willow, Maggie, Rowan, Hunter, Kaden, Adalee, Kristen, Chloe and another Alexis; two great-great-grandchildren, Teagan and Ava; and two sisters, Barbara (Ed) Lemons, Overland Park, Kan., and Imogene (Walter) Jones, Poplar Bluff.
Mr. Woods was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Doug; three brothers, Walter, Richard and Bill, and three sisters, Kathryn, Ruth and Alberta.
Visitation for Mr. Woods, who will be cremated, will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the West Side Church of God with a memorial service scheduled for 4 p.m.
Cotrell Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Paul Woods.
Mr. Woods, 84, was born on Dec. 6, 1933, to a family of meager means in a small home on the bank of the Black River on Poplar Bluff’s East Side. He was one of nine siblings born to Charlie and Hazel Wright Woods. A 10th child died in infancy.
At age 9 he began carrying a large newspaper route on foot in his home neighborhood along North Riverview Drive, but soon saved enough money to buy an old, used bicycle to make his job easier. By his early teens, he began working after school in the mail room of the DAR. Still saving his money, Mr. Woods recalled buying his mother a wringer washing machine to replace the wash tub and scrub board she was using to care for nine children and a husband.
On graduation from Poplar Bluff High School in 1951, he was offered a job at the DAR as an apprentice printer affiliated with Local 635 of the International Typographical Union. Four years later he began a 46-year career as a journeyman printer that saw the old “hot metal” printing process transition to a computerized operation. For many years Mr. Woods wrote his Ridge Runner outdoors column in the DAR.
An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Woods was an early leader in the Southeast Missouri Sportsmen’s Association and active in its projects. He was a dedicated coon hunter who served as secretary-treasurer of the Bluetick (coon hound) Breeders of America. He also judged bench shows and night hunts in the region.
He was a lifelong member of the Church of God, serving as secretary-treasurer and a choir member at West Side Church of God.
Mr. Woods was married on Oct. 31, 1954, to the former Ruth Elaine York. She survives. In 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Woods moved from their home in Poplar Bluff to a new underground home near the Butler-Carter County line and began raising mink, ferret and fox for the fur trade.
Other survivors include a daughter, Paula (Ron) Tibbs of Poplar Bluff; a son, Mike Woods of Arkansas; five grandchildren, Mark (Bethany) Tibbs, Christopher (Katie) Glass, Jamie Kellerman, Rebecca (Will) Jones and Emilee Woods; 14 great-grandchildren, Amber, Alexis, Addysen, Crystal, Brayden, Willow, Maggie, Rowan, Hunter, Kaden, Adalee, Kristen, Chloe and another Alexis; two great-great-grandchildren, Teagan and Ava; and two sisters, Barbara (Ed) Lemons, Overland Park, Kan., and Imogene (Walter) Jones, Poplar Bluff.
Mr. Woods was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Doug; three brothers, Walter, Richard and Bill, and three sisters, Kathryn, Ruth and Alberta.
Visitation for Mr. Woods, who will be cremated, will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the West Side Church of God with a memorial service scheduled for 4 p.m.
Cotrell Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Paul Woods.
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