I learned yesterday, an old friend passed away Wednesday. Ed "Woody" Woodward, age 83. Woody was the Police Chief that gave a 23 year old fat kid a chance at being a cop in 1976 when no one wanted a chubby cop. He hired me and was my mentor. Woody gave alot of people chances. Many worked out, few did not. He retired in (about) 1985. Woody was just a good ole boy from Kentucky that moved his very young family to Ohio looking for a job. Over the years, he became Police Chief and also worked at Delco in their security department. He was honest, fair, and direct. If you were right in what ever you did, he stood behind you 100%. If you screwed up, don't worry about any one else. Woody would have all of your a$$. I grew to respect this man completely and although he retired and I changed employers, we always stayed in touch and shared lunch on many occasions. I won't say Woody was a great man, but he was a damn good one. A good chief, father, grandfather, and always someone to look up to. I was at my old P.D. Wednesday when the news came in. I was struck by the feelings expressed by the younger officers who never really knew him but met and/or heard of him. I was also impressed that the command jumped right on top of it, contacted others, and his funeral planning began. Full honors. He deserves it.

Goodbye Woody. I'll miss you....terribly.

Condolences Codi...

God speed Codi!

Dano :(

Codi, sorry to hear about you loss...sounds like he was a good one :( ...Mike

codi,

my sympathies go to you and the ones who were lucky enough to have known him.

angel

Codi -

Sorry to hear about your loss...it's always tough to deal with. Hang in there...

Codi,


The most important thing to do is for the ones who were touched by anyone who has passed is to continue their legacy. Remind the guys in the PD to always think of Woody when they can.

Maybe they can get with the town officials and name a street or road after him. That will always keep Woody in mind when they are patrolling.


Any man with the name Woody in the Buckeye State should be honored in my book!

Sorry about your loss. My condolences go out to you and all those whose lives were affected by his passing :(

Wow...obviously I never knew him, but from your description, Codi, he DID seem like a great man! A wonderful role-model and mentor, you (and all your peers) were lucky to have had him in your life. In this era of mind-numbing "political correctness", its refreshing to hear about someone who wasn't afraid to take a chance in someone he saw potential, and wasn't afraid to give you hell if you messed up. Seems like we could use a little more of that today.

Thanks guys. I spent most of the weekend at my old P.D. with my old friends and the new officers I never met. The Deputy Chief stopped by the house Friday night and asked that I speak at the services. Seems there are only a few of us left that worked with Woody. After reading some of these posts, Angel lost a friend, Apache pilots had TC members as friends, it is getting a bit overwelming. I guess the "planning" helps in dealing with his passing. Lots of funny stories though. One surprise for tonights plan meeting, since I work for an elected official, a few well placed phone calls got a flag that was flown over the Capital building today. It is being Fed Ex'd today and should be here tomorrow. Not much else to say. I guess I am just tired of death. Expected or unexpected, I am just tired of it. Soldiers, police officers, firefighters, children, it is just madening at times. Thanks for your words of comfort. Now, on to the task at hand.