Donald Evan Woodyard

Donald Evan Woodyard 76, of Canton, Georgia took his final living breath at home on February 15th 2024. He was born in Washington D.C. at the Columbia Hospital For Women on February 20th 1947. Don grew up in the Washington D.C. Suburb of Annandale, Virginia. He was the third of three boys born to Harold Reynolds Woodyard Sr. and Lois Willard Woodyard. Don was preceded in death by his parents, brother Harold Woodyard Jr, wife Linda Jean Chandler and step daughter Dhyani Chandler. Don is survived by his eldest brother Robert Woodyard and wife Wilda, niece Cheryl Woodyard Weaver and children, Kohlette, Khorynne, Kahdlynne, niece Jennifer Woodyard Barlow and children, James, Jacob, Jonah, Joseph, Sister in law Suzanne Berry Woodyard, niece Margaret Woodyard Soldano, step sons Crispin and Micah Boulter, step grand daughter Sadie Pietruszka Boulter, cousins Douglas Chandler, Mary and Alice Woodyard and their respective families.

Growing up with his two older brothers in post war Annandale was a bit more “Wild West” than we would expect today. Don was the “free spirit” and the story teller of the bunch, who were often habitually involved in some kind of mischief. Many stories abound about the exploits of this young trio, like the time when a naked Harold Senior stormed into a living room full of neighborhood boys watching TV and shouted “Lois, where’s my underwear!”, or the time when Don secretly used his father’s typewriter to draft a letter from a fictitious company, in order to purchase chemicals that the boys later used to make backyard explosions!!

It seems that Don and his brothers weren’t the only science nerds of the day performing experiments; In a failed radiation treatment for ringworm, Don’s hair all fell out and when it grew back it was tightly curled like it had never been before. By most accounts, it seems that the post war era was a good time to be a kid, and Don and his brothers show up in many happy family photos of trips to visit grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

When Don reached college age he attended Virginia Tech in Blacksburg where his eldest brother Bob graduated. Don didn’t find what he was looking for in those early years at college and left before graduating. In 1968 during the Vietnam war, Don was drafted into the Army. Upon joining the armed forces, Don chose Germany as one of his preferred (wish list) locations to be stationed. Later he said that he thought all of those “wish lists” on the application went straight in the “round file”. Somehow by a brilliant stroke of luck, Don was indeed selected to serve on a military base in Germany, where he was charged with fire fighting duties during his two years of enlistment while developing a love of the local German food.

Don always had a sense of adventure, he liked to travel and eventually would visit New Zealand, Thailand and Hawaii as well as other parts of the US . He took up skydiving and persisted with it even after getting stuck in a tree on one jump. Don was always very good at keeping in touch with people he cared about. One Christmas, after his father had passed, Don and his brothers planned a family gathering with their mother Lois at his oldest brother Bob’s place in Kentucky. On Christmas eve at bedtime, Don still hadn’t arrived but a snow storm had rolled in blanketing the area. When the rest of the family awoke the next morning, Don’s car was in the driveway but he was nowhere to be seen. Eventually they discovered him to their surprise in a sleeping bag on the back deck, covered with a fresh layer of new snow!!

Sometime after his stint of military service, while back in Virginia, Don took up what became his other major passion and pursuit in life, craftwork. Specifically, glassblowing was to become his niche and lifelong profession. By the late 80’s, after some years of traveling and vending his art glass at craft shows, Don and his long time girlfriend Sallie had created a successful business and lifestyle for themselves in the production of handmade glass Christmas ornaments. They worked extremely hard at producing ornaments during the half of the year leading up to the holiday season and then spent the rest of the year at leisure. It was during this period of life that Don met and formed many life long friendships with other crafts people and artists.

In the 90’s, Don decided on a new career direction combining his two major passions, art and science. He returned to school and became a certified scientific glassblower, a niche profession whose ranks only numbered about a hundred in the nation at that time. Don found employment at Georgia Tech and moved down to the Atlanta, Georgia area where he worked and lived during the remainder of his life.

In 1993, Don married Linda Jean Chandler whom he had known since childhood and became a step father to her three children. Don and Linda bought a house in Cherokee county and moved outside of Atlanta. Linda had already had a bout with breast cancer before they married and when it returned from remission, Don cared for her through her last years of life until she passed in 1997.

Don was a consummate craftsman himself and always appreciated Precision craftsmanship. One of his fascinations became the restoration of antique clocks, particularly tower clocks. While traveling, Don would regularly visit tower clocks in public spaces where he found them. Given the antiquity of these machines and the scarcity of those who comprehended their maintenance and workings, many had succumbed and atrophied to time it’s self and failed to keep to their original duty. On multiple occasions, at the spur of the moment, Don was able to offer his help in successfully restoring the operation of the tower clocks of several towns and villages throughout Georgia and South Carolina, some that hadn’t worked in over a century!! Don never made much ado about his role in fixing the clocks or accepted any compensation for his efforts, but for some who witnessed the results, it was nothing short of a small miracle to behold.

In March of 2023 Don was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS, a neurological disease. Slightly less than a year later, Don passed away due to the progression of his condition.

Don was many things to many people during his life, but most of all he is remembered by his friends and family for his generosity, loyalty, craftsmanship, adventurous spirit, sense of humor, impeccable taste and ever willingness to help others. Often Don seemed to have an intuitive knack for choosing the gifts he gave to others, both in the physical and non-physical sense. Don had some of the best and some of the hardest luck in his life and yet seemed to face it all without complaint, somehow always taking each turn of the path of life in stride. Wherever we find ourselves enjoying the beauty of nature, exploring the realms of scientific thought, creating our best work or enjoying and sharing the finer things in life with friends, we will find Don there, by our side.