WWII veteran and birthday honoree Kenneth Warren Woodard took in the fresh air and sunshine on Tuesday as he relaxed on a covered porch outside Bridging the Gap Family Care Home. One would never guess this man who clicked off dates and names like it was yesterday was just a year shy of marking a century of life.
Woodard has come full circle. After his wife Mildred died, he moved to Bridging the Gap about three years ago.
Born in 1921 in his family’s home on Cold Branch Road, his parents named him after the 29th president, Warren Harding, a Republican from Ohio who was elected by a landslide in 1920. In addition to party affiliation, service was the common thread between the two. Woodard served his country in WWII and spent the rest of his long life volunteering locally for civic duty.
At the age of 5, Woodard’s parents, Fred and Cora Woodard moved the family about 3 miles down the road to the Elf Community where his father had a country store. His dad also worked in the timber and wood business. Woodard was the middle child of 10 siblings. He attended Elf School through 10th grade and then graduated from Hayesville High School in 1938. At that time, the school only had 11 grades.
Along the way Woodard met and fell in love with Mildred Penland, also from the Shooting Creek community. “We grew up together. We went all the way through school and graduated together,” he said.
The couple married Feb. 26, 1942 and stayed together 73 years until she died in 2015 at the age of 95. The union had produced two children, daughter Elaine who died in 2009, and son Warren.
After high school, Woodard joined Civilian Conservation Corps in Brevard where he stayed about 10 months. He later graduated from Coyne Electrical School in Chicago. “My first job was in Sylva. Of course the war came on then and I wasn’t able to get the tools I needed so I came back to work locally at Ritter Lumber Company, driving a truck,” he said.
A few months after he married Mildred, Woodard signed up for the Navy. “I went on active duty October 1942 and was shipped out Christmas Day,” he said. “We wrote to each other every day.”
Woodard’s first assignment landed him in New Zealand. It took awhile for his ship to reach its destination. “I was on the ship 42 days before I put my feet on the ground,” Woodard said with a chuckle.
As a Seabee with the Naval Construction Battalion, Woodard served two tours in the Southwest Pacific. He left a mark in his role, earning a collection of distinctions including World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, Navy/USCD Unit Commendation Ribbon and Combat Action ribbon.
“I wasn’t in direct combat,” Woodard explained. “I went to Guam. Sixty of us went to Iwo Gima to build a camp. The Japanese were still active — still in the hills. They had a little railroad and they would bring out the big guns on it. When we got up to Iwo Gima, they had a bunch of stuff loaded on the boat. Six of us went ashore. You could see the bullets coming off the sand, but they were a little bit out of range. Then they got one of their big guns out and hit the ship we were on.” Three servicemen died are a result.
After the Navy, Woodard went back to work for Ritter where he made 75 cents an hour and stayed there awhile. In 1956, Kenneth and Mildred opened Woodard Electric Service in a small building alongside Lake Chatuge, just across from the Highway 175 High Bridge. He said David Burch was his first employee and his office manager.
The store expanded in the 1950s and ‘60s to include electric appliances and later plumbing and appliance sales. In 1986 Kenneth and Mildred retired and Warren took over the business which is now located adjacent to Rib Country in Hayesville.
Woodard also was involved in building the Aztex store on the hill at the intersection of Highway 64 and 69 in the 1970s. He said he and a group of nvestors opened a gas station there and later sold it. It is now called The Local Market.
After Woodard retired, the couple liked to travel and volunteer their time. Kenneth and Mildred went on a cruise to Honalulu for their 50th anniversary. In addition, Kenneth has been heavily involved in civic duties. He and Robert Anderson are the only two living charter members of VFW Post 6812. He is also a lifetime member of the American Legion and is a long-time member of the Lion’s Club. “Carl Moore ‘s been in the Lions Club a year longer than me,” he laughed referring to their longevity.
These days, Woodard seems content living in the adult care home so close to where he was born.
His 99th birthday was July 28, but Woodard was honored with a surprise drive-through parade the Saturday before. He smiled as he recalled walking outside and seeing the many well-wishers drive by. “There was 140 people that drove by,” he said.
Woodard and the staff at Bridging the Gap expressed appreciation to all involved in making the celebration a reality: Truett Children’s Home, Neil Kaplan, Phil Gobel, pastor of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Tim Radford of WKRK and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
“They treat me like a king here at Bridging the Gap,” he said with a smile.
He is also treated like family. The home’s founders are Teak and Irene Penland and Teak was Mildred’s first cousin.
“The Penland’s have good help here,” he said with a smile. “You know I married a Penland myself.”