By Angelo Bruscas
GH Newspaper Group
Author, newspaper reporter, wife, mother, grandmother, pioneer, dedicated to family, lifelong friends, her community, her church.
Gene Leatha Woodwick was remembered for all the people she reached and all the lives she touched over her 77 years of life on Saturday at a memorial service in the church she attended, Immanuel Baptist Church in Hoquiam.
“She was a very special woman who is well remembered,” said Pastor Kent Gravley. Later during an hour-long service, he added: “It’s important that you all understand how capable Gene was, and anyone who knew her well would have recognized it.”
A renowned Pacific Northwest journalist and longtime Ocean Shores resident, Woodwick, died at home last month. For many years, she highlighted North Beach history with her ‘Up the Beach’ column in The Daily World, the North Coast News in Ocean Shores and the South Beach Bulletin in Westport.
“While Gene will long be remembered for her prolific journalistic and public service career, she will be best remembered for incredible kindness and insatiable curiosity,” Gravley said. “One of her last wishes was that those who would like to remember her to do so with an act of random kindness.”
The bulletin for her memorial was titled, “Footprints in the Sand.”
Gravley noted his obituary information and preparation for Woodwick required more effort than he had ever experienced “because there is a lot in here.” He also pointed out that last week would have marked the 60th wedding anniversary for her and her surviving husband Larry.
In addition to her columns, Woodwick was the author of six books, including “Images of America – Ocean Shores,” “Images of America – Logging in Grays Harbor,” “Coastal Combing: A potpourri of trashy treasures,” “Gene’s Pocket of History: A self-guided tour of Ocean Shores,” along with her recently published “Island Girl,” a personal slice-of-life memoir that captures her time as a young girl growing up on Fidalgo Island in the early 1950s.
“Gene started her 50-year journalistic career as reporter for the Anacortes American at the tender age of 14 years old,” Gravley said.
A writer for 58 years, Gene Woodwick worked as a reporter for the Associated Press, for daily and weekly newspapers and as a freelance writer. She has won numerous awards as a reporter and columnist, at both state and national levels, including an award from then U.S. President Bill Clinton for her work in salmon enhancement public education.
Her life’s many adventures include working as a cook in a logging camp at Forks, serving and learning on the boards of the National Marine Sanctuary, the Washington Museum Association and Washington Press Women, as well as serving on a number of museum boards.
Woodwick also was a contributor to the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society’s publication, The Sea Chest. She was instrumental in the co-founding and operations at the Coastal Interpretive Center, and a frequent contributor, supporter and member of the Museum of the North Beach. In her spare time, Woodwick volunteered as a docent at the Willapa Seaport Museum in Raymond.
In 1989, Woodwick earned an Associate Degree in curating from Grays Harbor College. She served as the director of the Ocean Shores Coastal Interpretive Center for more than a decade, starting in 1997. Woodwick was named the Aberdeen Museum of History’s Harborite of the Year in 2011.
Longtime friend Carol Davis of Ocean Shores submitted remarks that were read by one of Woodwick’s daughters: “There’s an old saying, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person.’ And that was Gene.”
She recalled how Woodwick, with the inspiration of Alan Rammer and Erma Bedilion, first got the local Chamber of Commerce to support what would become the annual Beachcombers Fun Fair at the Ocean Shores Convention Center.
“Gene was a great person in the community and was also a wonderful promoter of this area,” Davis said. “She lived many places and we were blessed that she decided to put her roots here.”
Gene Woodwick is survived by her husband Larry at the family home, her children, Brian Woodwick of Issaquah, Bruce (Barbara Christianson) of Anacortes, Lynelle (Claude) Freeman of West Seattle, Molly Woodwick of Elma and three grandchildren. Her son Sean died in 2011.
In closing his remarks, Gravley himself was moved to tears and recalled that “Gene was unique, and she recognized and championed the uniqueness in all those she came into contact with. That was one of the hallmarks of who she was.”
