Mary Ellen Woodward

Woodward—Mary Ellen Woodward, 100, on August 6, 2019, at Foxdale Village in State College, Pa. Mary Ellen was born on December 13, 1918, in Richmond, Ind., to  Catherine Hartman and Walter C. Woodward. She grew up in Richmond and attended Earlham College, where her father was a professor of history. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1942 and belonged to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She earned a master’s in library science from the University of Colorado Boulder, attended the intensive summer program at Middlebury College, and was fluent in French, German, and Russian.

She worked as a library administrator for the U.S. Information Agency, which promoted public international diplomacy. During her 22 years there she was mostly stationed near Washington, D.C., but she also helped to create the first American library in Pakistan—living for three years in Lahore before moving on to work for two years in Mumbai (then called Bombay), India. She spent her remaining years before retirement back in Washington.

In 1990, she moved to Foxdale Village and transferred her membership from Richmond (Ind.) Meeting to State College (Pa.) Meeting. She regularly attended meeting when she was healthy and worked with the Newsletter and American Friends Service Committee Clothing Committees. She enjoyed reading, traveling, nature, and classical music. Her personal heroes were Thomas Jefferson and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mary Ellen was preceded in death by her sister, Bernice W. Hay. She is survived by her sister, Elisabeth W. Krauss; two nieces; three nephews; and six grandnieces and nephews.

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