Mary Woods

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Mary Elizabeth Woods, 95, formerly of Lutesville, Portageville, and Marquand, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at The Baptist Home in Ironton, Missouri.

Beth was born Sept. 12, 1922, in Mississippi County, Arkansas, the daughter of Oscar and Octa Rhodes Upchurch.

She was raised on the family farm in Bollinger County, Missouri, with her two sisters (Jo and Jackie, who survives) and two brothers (Junior and Winferd). Beth was valedictorian at Lutesville High School and studied for a year at Southeast Missouri University before marrying Hugh Lambert Woods, also of Bollinger County, in 1942.

During World War II they lived in Texas, Arizona and California while Hugh served as a pilot instructor. Daughter, Judy, was born in 1944 in Cape Girardeau, and they returned to Missouri after the war and settled in Portageville. Son, Richard, was born in 1947. Beth and Hugh were devout members of the Portageville First Baptist Church and worked hard to make Woods Lumber Co. a success. Beth was initially a full-time mother and homemaker, but kept the company's books after the children left for college.

In retirement in 1980, Beth and Hugh moved from Portageville to a cabin in the forests near Marquand, where they tended garden, hosted many family reunions and enjoyed the Missouri hills and wildlife. After Hugh died in 2005, Beth continued to live there through some difficult winters until moving in 2010 to The Baptist Home in Ironton, at first in an independent apartment, then into the Home proper for greater care as her health deteriorated.

Beth Woods loved sewing and will be remembered for her beautiful hand-stitched patchwork quilts continuing an Upchurch family tradition. She will also be remembered for her good cooking (especially chocolate chip cookies, which she shared with all), her generosity, her Christian faith and active membership in the Baptist church, and her devotion to her children; granddaughter, Keri; and great-granddaughters, Morgan and Jessica. Beth also was well-travelled in her trips around the U.S., as well as to Peru, Pakistan, New Zealand and other countries, often to visit son, Richard, in his work abroad. She always remained faithful, though, to her roots in Missouri and to the family and many friends there.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill.

Funeral will begin at 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Bollinger County Memorial Park Cemetery near Marble Hill.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to The Baptist Home in Ironton or Habitat for Humanity.