Beatrice P. Woodard

Beatrice “Bea” Page Woodard grew up surrounded by family and church in the community of Pearl Valley, just south of Georgetown, Mississippi, where they lived off the land and for the Lord. The fifth child of six born to Polk and Annie Page, she learned how to work hard by tending vegetable gardens, picking cotton, helping her mama in the kitchen and her daddy in the smokehouse, and tending to the yard and flowers.

She began school at the age of 4. Bea was an eager student, even skipping one grade. She enjoyed playing basketball at Georgetown High School, graduating at the age of 15. She also played basketball at Co-Lin Junior College in Wesson, Mississippi, graduating in 1949. Then Bea and her cousin Doris Page went to Jackson to find jobs, friends, and eventually husbands.

Among her many roommates and friends, two became like sisters to her. Although they eventually lived in different states, they remained close over the years and took family trips together. They called themselves “The Clorox Gang” because of epic vacations at very rustic state park cabins that they left in pristine condition.

In 1953, Beatrice married James Woodard, a country boy from Leakesville, Mississippi, who had graduated from Mississippi State in civil engineering, and they began their life together in Jackson. As their family grew to three girls and a boy, they dreamed of having a farm like the ones they knew growing up in the country. They found that place in the Dry Grove community outside of Terry, Mississippi.

There they taught their children how to raise vegetables, flowers, chickens, ducks, and a few cows; how to fish and watch out for snakes; how to bale hay; how to study hard in school; how to be good neighbors; and how to respect their elders; and how to love the Lord. Many Saturday mornings, Bea would send the children to her neighbor Rose for piano lessons and to play with Rose’s kids. Then she would turn her kitchen into a beauty salon for the neighbor ladies. Weekends with James’s and Bea’s parents were just as frequent, helping them by doing chores and cooking for them, especially as they grew older. There were always short trips visiting cousins and other lifelong friends, and taking them cakes, pies, or homemade jelly. Holidays revolved around baking goodies, gathering with her brothers, sisters, and their children and other relatives, decorating the house, and sewing holiday outfits. Bea’s love of sewing knew no season nor bounds. Her creations were worn in the playroom, at formals, and on Sunday mornings.

Life in Dry Grove also revolved around church. James was the church treasurer at Wynndale Presbyterian Church for many years, while Beatrice sang alto in the choir. When it was time for dinner on the grounds, Bea’s desserts were among the best, especially the “Woodard Cake,” a rich chocolate sheet cake with a chocolate-pecan icing. Bea was a regular supplier of the flower arrangements in the sanctuary. Bea eventually took on the additional job of cleaning the church weekly, enlisting her children as crew and teaching them the value of humble work while serving the Lord. And many Sundays, she would have the preacher and his family come share a meal after the service. For those special meals, the English pea and asparagus casserole was the favorite side dish, while homemade cooked custard ice cream was worth the wait.

Beatrice did all of these things while she worked full time in the Registrar’s Office at Millsaps College in Jackson, taking only a few years to stay home while her children were very young. It was at Millsaps that she found a true “work family” and kept close ties with the ladies in the office, as well as with her first boss there, Mr. Paul D. Hardin. Mr. Hardin was also an English professor who traveled abroad in the summers. It was those travels that inspired Bea and James to encourage their children to travel abroad, and to plan trips for themselves after retirement.

While the children joined the local 4-H Club, Beatrice became a member and officer of the Palestine Home Demonstration Club (a.k.a. the “Home Demolition Club,” so named by the husbands of the members). Her canned jellies and pickles garnered ribbons at competitions, but they were most enjoyed by those who were fortunate enough to scoop them up afterwards.

For the last five years of James’s work at United Gas Pipe Line, he was transferred to Mobile, Alabama. Those were some of their happiest years, even as they missed their farm outside of Terry. The new friends and church that they found enriched their lives, and they grew even closer to James’s family in Leakesville.

When Bea and James moved back to Terry, they began a busy time of helping their children and grandchildren. The “J & B Moving & Cleaning Service,” as they were affectionately called, helped all four children with frequent moves, temporary housing back home, and newborn grandchildren. When the grandchildren came to visit, Bea relished the opportunity to show them what she had learned as a young child. Whether working in the garden, planting zinnias, or teaching granddaughters how to sew, Bea shared much of what she learned from growing up in Pearl Valley. This was also the time in their retirement that they made several international trips with “The Clorox Gang” and with a few other dear friends. And they were still friends when they got home.

Bea is preceded in death by her parents, Polk and Annie Page. She was the last of her brothers and sisters, all of whom were part of the Greatest Generation in the American 20th Century. She is preceded in death by her brothers Embra Page, Phinus Page, and Ralph Page; and her sisters Adilaid Maddox and Virginia Dare Boardman; and their respective spouses. She was also preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, James W. Woodard, Jr., and her son-in-law Robert B. Langston III. She is survived by Louanne W. Langston, Phyllis W. (Ken) Seawright, J. Roland (Shannon) Woodard, and Yvonne W. (Mark) Jicka. She is also survived by grandchildren Bethany P. Langston (Thomas) Stubblefield; Jamie M. Langston (Robert) Saunderson; Gabrielle W. (Shane) Sink; Ryan K. Seawright; Sarah Riley Jicka and Anne "Annie" A. Jicka; one great-grandchild, Case Stubblefield; and many nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews.

The family wishes to thank the kind and loving staff and nurses at Riggs Manor in Raymond for her dementia care, and Arden Hospice for helping her fight her last battle with dementia. Memorials may be made to French Camp Academy.