DuWayne Edward Woodward

DuWayne Edward Woodward, known by his nickname Dewey, was born August 7, 1943 in Cold Lake, Alberta to Alice and Ed Woodward. He grew up in Hay River and High Level along with his older brother Don and younger siblings Ray, Arlene (Keller) and Sherry (McGonigal). The boys were fondly called Ding, Dong and Dew.

Dewey met his dear wife Kathleen in Edmonton and they were married November 24, 1973. Then came along Edward, Thomas and Amber.

Dewey was baptized in 1982 and along with his family was active as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This kept him busy doing volunteer work, sharing his hope for the future with his neighbours, volunteering on construction projects and waking up early to help make lunches for assemblies and conventions, bringing along the whole family.

Dewey loved his wife, camping, music and horses. He especially had a soft spot for his grandchildren. While he was in the hospital, he said the 3 best decisions he made in his life was getting to know Jehovah God, getting baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and marrying Kathleen. His family agrees with him :).

Dewey had a real love of people and enjoyed when friends and family dropped in. One of his favourite things to do was to go for a drive and drop in on others, wherever the wind took him. This was true even when he was staying mostly at home due to his health and when he went into the hospital. He lit up when people stopped by for a coffee and a chat. If you happened to play crib, then he was especially happy!

Dewey also loved motorcycles and vintage cars and trucks. He was known for saying, “There’s my car” and could identify the make, model and year of a car as they drove by. Dewey also loved travelling and languages. In the last year he was brushing up on his Spanish and Vietnamese, surprising Amber with Xin Chào and Hẹn gặp lại.

Dewey will be missed for his sense of humour, hospitality and spreading propaganda that cowboy boots were the most comfortable footwear you could wear. He was known as a character always happy to tell a joke. He and Kathleen happily gave rides to friends to the Kingdom Hall or for errands. Dewey and Kathleen moved quite a bit within Alberta and made many dear friends in Clareview, Tofield, St. Paul, Grande Prairie, Westlock, Ellerslie and in the last few years in Steele Heights.

Dewey was especially interested in current events and how they linked to Bible prophecies. He liked to be up to date as to what was new on JW.org and was excited to share the Bible truths that helped change his life. This included the nurses visiting him in his last few weeks at home. When Dewey is resurrected to a life on earth in perfect health, he said he was looking forward to many more card games, building a house surrounded by mountains, traveling, spending time with his family including his granddaughter Breena (2008-2009) and learning more about nebulas and black holes.

Dewey will be missed by his wife Kathleen, Edward his favourite oldest son (Erin), Thomas his actual favourite (Shandell) and Amber his favourite daughter. As well as his grandchildren Kadie and Kaden and their mom Tracey, Ireland, Ivan and Laila. His siblings Ray (Val) and Sherry (Bert), his many brothers and sisters in laws, nieces and nephews and all of his crib partners and trail ride buddies.

The family would like to thank all the nurses and doctors who helped care for Dewey and were happy to share jokes :).