Raymond S. Woodard

Raymond S. Woodard, 86, well known Franklin attorney, died at 10:15 p.m. Sunday October 4, 2009, at UPMC Northwest, Seneca
Born September 11, 1923 in Pratt, Kansas and spent his early years on the family farm north of the small town of Haviland, Kansas. His schooling was in the public schools of Hutchinson, Kansas. He became a Boy Scout with Troop 13 in his home town and became an Eagle Scout with palms. He was active in debate and other speech activities in high school and Hutchinson Junior College where he obtained the first two years of his college education. He was on the varsity debate team at Northwestern University where he attended on a debate scholarship. In September, 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was called to active duty on July 1, 1943. He graduated from the USNR Midshipman School at Columbia University in New York City in February, 1944, and continued his Navy service at sea in the amphibious forces serving on landing craft infantry designated LCI(L)?s. In May, he was promoted to executive officer and then as captain of his own ship in July 1944 while in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and South of France and participated in the invasion of Southern France in August, 1944. He returned to the United States and then took his ship through the Panama Canal to San Diego and Seattle and to Alaska. In Alaska, he turned his ship over to the Russian navy as part of the Lend-Lease Program. Upon his return to the United States, he was sent to the Philippine Islands to command an LCI which dispensed rockets on the beach rather than troops. After the capitulation of Japan, he returned to the United States and was discharged in March, 1946.
He moved to Franklin, PA where he was engaged in the motion picture theatre business for several years. In 1950, he was elected as councilman for the City of Franklin, was President of the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce and served on the Community Chest and Red Cross Boards. In 1955, he elected to attend University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he served on the Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Team for two years and graduated with the Order of the Coif.
Since his graduation from Law School in 1958, he had been associated with the law office of Robert M. Dale which later became known as the Dale Woodard Law Firm. He had been active in the practice of law until the present. He was Solicitor for the City of Franklin for 41 years and was the Solicitor for The General Authority for 40 years.
He was a 50 year member of the former Franklin Club, the Elks Club, the Mouse Club and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He was also a member of Wanango Golf Club, The 100 Club, the Eagles Club and the American Legion. He was an Episcopalian and belonged to St. John?s Episcopal Church in Franklin.
He was first married to Jean Houghton with whom he had two sons, John H. Woodard, Idaho, a business and legal adviser for an international investment corporation, and Brett H. Woodard, a pathologist who has served on the faculty at Duke University Medical School and is now in private practice at Anderson, S.C. and his wife, Vicki Woodard. He then married Joyce Kightlinger Lytle, who is a retired Real Estate Broker. His stepdaughters are Lisa Lytle Sensky of Hazelton, PA and Lana Lytle Jolley of Franklin, PA. He was the proud grandfather of six grandchildren, Sarah and Josh Woodard, Joseph and Jennifer Sensky, Ian Sterling and Grace Jolley. He was the great-grandfather of Ainslea Woodard of Mississippi
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Huff Chapel, 312 W. Park St., Franklin.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Friday in St. John Episcopal Church, 1145 Buffalo St, Franklin with The Rev. Holly Davis, rector, officiating.
Internment will follow in Franklin Cemetery with full military honors rendered by V.E.T.S. Honor Guard.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Barrow Civic Theater 1223 Liberty St. Franklin, PA 16323