Obit of Woodson, Lester B. - Comanche County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 27 Nov 2005 Return to Comanche County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/comanche/comanche.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== Lawton Constitution 11 May 2003 Lester B. Woodson Funeral for Lester B. Woodson, 84, Lawton, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Lawton Heights United Methodist Church with Rev. Montie Jones, pastor, officiating. Mr. Woodson died Saturday, May 10, 2003, in a local hospital. Burial with military honors will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens under direction of Becker Funeral Home. He was born Jan. 11, 1919, near McCaskill (Hempstead, Ark.) to E. S. and Laura A. Woodson. While a small child his family moved to Amity, Ark., where he attended public schools, graduating in 1938. In July 1938 he entered the Civilian Conservation Corps where he served 23 months. While in the CCC he attended college part time at Arkansas A&M at Monticello, Ark. In the summer of 1940 he attended full time and took flight training under the Civilian pilot training program. On Aug. 7, 1940, he volunteered for the U.S. Navy and was sent to San Diego, Calif. Later he was assigned to the Naval Fleet Air Photo Squadron (DD-1) and sent to the Pacific Theatre. After serving 18 months on Guadalcanal he was wounded while on a mission. He was returned to the states and assigned to Pensacola, Fla. He married Anna Faye Hughes on July 24, 1945, in his hometown. In September 1946 he was released from active duty. His military awards include Asiatic Pacific Theatre with 5 battle stars, good conduct medal, American Theatre Medal, Presidential Unit Citation plus several other awards. He entered Henderson State Teachers College in January 1947 and received a bachelor of scienc degree. In 1949 he entered George Peabody College Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tenn., where he received an MA degree. In 1953 he returned to Vanderbilt where he did post graduate work. He taught and coached in Hamburg, Arkansas Public Schools and later became principal of Murfreesboro Public Schools and was superintendent of Lavaca Public Schools. In September 1956 he accepted a position at Fort Sill as an educational specialist teacher training. This consisted of training instructors for the artillery school. He retired in September 1979 with more than 29 years of federal service. He was a member of Lawton Heights United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday school for more than 30 years and served on many church committees. He served several years as treasurer for the Lawton district of the United Methodist Churches and was also active with Cameron Campus Ministry. Survivors include his wife, of the home; three sons and daughters-in-law: Darrell and Regina Woodson, Dr. Ronald and Christie Woodson, and Gary and Christina Woodson, all of Lawton; a brother and sister-in-law, Herbert and Pat Woodson, Fordyce, Ark.; two sisters-in-law: Pauline Woodson, Amity, Ark., and Helen Woodson, Ardmore, eight grandchildren: Rus Woodson, Casey Woodson, Raegan Woodson and her husband First Lt. Jon Roth, United States Marine Corps; Jessica Woodson, John Woodson, Ronni Woodson, Jeremy Woodson, and Tiffany Woodson, all of Lawton. He is preceded in death by his parents, three sisters and three brothers. Memorial contributions May be made to Lawton Heights United Methodist Church Building Fund, 1514 NW Andrews, Lawton, OK 73507. Sympathy cards May be sent to the family online at www.beckerfuneral.com Friends May visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Comanche County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/comanche/comanche.html