Obituary

Ruth Maxine Ellefson Woodson was born on April 7, 1920 in Madison, Wis.  She grew up in Madison, and attended St. Olaf College and the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1942 with a teaching degree.  She taught for a short while in a Hillsboro, Wisconsin before moving to Washington, DC during World War II.   One of her best memories was from August 1945 when she walked down Pennsylvania Avenue with thousands of others to celebrate the end of World War II.  She met William (Bill) Woodson in Washington and they were married in November of 1947.  They lived in Madison and had 6 children between 1949 and 1960 – 5 girls and 1 boy.  In 1960 they moved to Maryvale in west Phoenix where they raised their family and she was active in the Lutheran church and the local PTA.  She worked as a substitute teacher in local schools and volunteered at both Maryvale and Boswell hospitals.  She was widowed in 1977 but remained active in many organizations. In 1995 she moved to Sun City where she lived until 2012 when she moved into an independent living apartment in Peoria.  In August of 2022 she moved to Legacy House in Avondale because she needed assistance with daily needs.  She is survived by  5 children:  Ann (David) Bruce, Katherine (Robert) Motschall, Mark (Guadalupe) Woodson, Sally (Tim) Babbitt and Carol(Jon) Sears.  Her daughter Peggy (Mark) Mosher is deceased.  She also has 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, Ruth, born in September of 2023.

There will be a visitation on Wednesday, Jan 10 from 5 to 9 PM at Thompson Funeral Chapel at 926 S. Litchfield Rd in Goodyear, AZ.  A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday Jan. 11 at 1:00 PM at Peace Lutheran Church, 18265 N. 89^th Ave., Peoria, AZ.