Edward Woods

Ed and Betty Woods, long-time residents of Weiser, Idaho, recently passed away within a few days of each other. After a marriage of 71 and ½ years, Ed departed on Monday, April 22. Betty took ill later that day and passed away on Saturday, April 27. Not to be left behind, their beloved dog, Phoebe, passed away that Saturday afternoon. Ed was born February 24, 1928, in Pierce City, Missouri. Betty was born March 19, 1925, in Kiowa, Kansas. They met and married in 1947, when Ed was 19 and Betty 22. He was in the Army Air Corps and became an aircraft and powerplant mechanic. Betty worked for the Navy Department. They were stationed in Panama, returned to the Midwest and then moved to Washington where Ed worked for Broughton Lumber Company in Willard, across from Hood River, Oregon. Ed learned to fly on the GI Bill, shooting take-offs and landings in an open cockpit biplane on sandbars in the Columbia. Ed loved to hunt and fish and was an aviation enthusiast throughout his life. With Betty’s help (and sometimes their kids’, hammering and gluing wing ribs at the dinner table), he built or rebuilt numerous aircraft in his spare time. He joined the U.S. Border Patrol in 1957 and soon moved from being a patrol inspector to pilot. He flew small planes for the Patrol in Savannah, Georgia and Marfa, Texas, and then joined the Patrol’s airlift in El Paso, Texas. On the airlift he flew large passenger planes. Ed retired in 1978, and he and Betty moved to Lyle, Washington, and then to Weiser in 1994. Betty was a devoted wife, loving mother, amazing cook and dearest friend to countless people who knew her. She never had a bad word for anyone, and no one ever had a bad word for her. She was the solid, rock core of the family. She and Ed will be deeply missed by many. Betty had six brothers and one sister, and Ed had six sisters and two brothers, many of whom survive them and mourn their passing. Betty and Ed are also survived by their daughter, Judith Peters, of Weiser; their son, Michael Woods, of Sonoma; grandsons Galen Hardy, James Keir Woods and Shamanie Peters; granddaughter Kenna Woods; and great-granddaughters Elsie, Eilley and Ella. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. *Please see "Service Information" tab for service details. *