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Born in Toronto on September 23,1936, Woody – officially Joyce Ruth Sherman (nee Martin) – passed away peacefully on Monday July 6, in her ninetieth year. She grew up in Toronto and Stratford, studied at Ryerson Institute of Technology, and spent twenty years of her life living in Australia and five in the United States.
Throughout her life, Woody loved travel and adventure. Soon after high school, she journeyed to Banff with her friend Fin, and spent several summers working at the Banff Springs Hotel. After marrying Ray in 1961, they moved to Australia and had two daughters, Melissa and Mardi. The family moved back and forth between Canada, Australia and the States throughout the 1960s and 1970s, twice travelling across the Pacific rather unconventionally on freighter ships, stopping at ports in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. Woody and Ray travelled to Europe when the children were young, and made many epic road trips, crossing North America several times.
Woody took great pride in her wonderful organizational and management skills. Over a fifty year career, she worked as a legal secretary, a travel agent, as a secretary for a “colourful” housing developer, helped Ray with his chiropractic business, ran a horse and carriage company in Sydney’s historic Rocks district, and sold Mary Kay cosmetics.
Most notably, Woody lived a life filled with love.
Woody loved her family with all her heart. She was devoted to her daughters, and was so proud of her grandchildren, Cale and Harper, Luke and Joel, enthusiastically talking about their achievements whenever she could. Christmas and Easter were special days to her, and she delighted in celebrating birthdays! She enjoyed wrapping and gifting presents as much as she enjoyed receiving them.
Woody loved spending time with friends and meeting new people. Her curiosity never waned. She never wanted to miss a social occasion. In the week before she passed, she was excited about the Telfer World Cup watch party and an upcoming theatre visit.
She cherished Muskoka cottage life, especially early-morning swims in the lake and glasses of wine on a dock while watching the sunset with family and friends.
She loved animals: from riding horses on Sydney’s northern beaches, to spending time with her beloved dogs, especially Muffinn, and cats, most recently Roscoe.
She also loved her tennis, and rarely missed a match when one of her favourite players was on court. Surely she was in some secret Rafa Nadal fan club; perhaps she even ran it. Less secret clubs were the Grand River Grannies, Probus, and Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. Woody strived to be involved. She wanted to meet up with people and support her community.
When she moved to Paris in 2007, it was impressive how quickly she made connections and friends within the St. James Church community and so many other groups.
Woody was ever an organizer and generous volunteer, serving Toronto homeless through the “Out of the Cold” program in the early 2000s, and for four years facilitating CBC Radio performances of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, at St Matthew’s Church. She volunteered at Toronto hospitals helping cancer patients with their makeup in a project called, “Look Good, Feel Good.” More recently, she spent time at the Willett offering support at the transitional care unit. Right up to the last few weeks she was planning trips with her Telfer friends to the theatre.
Woody was never afraid to take on a challenge or learn something new. She loved sewing and knitting and crafts. Her sewn clothing was nothing less than professional. Woody was a wonderful cook. She took Chinese cooking classes and made fantastic Szechuan dishes. She loved hosting dinner parties. She loved all types of music, and dancing whenever the opportunity was there. She completed specialized training for court reporting, always ready to embrace and employ new technology.
We will remember Woody for her adventurous spirit, her generosity, her unfailing optimism, and her fun-loving approach to life. Hers was a life well lived.
A celebration of her life will take place in August.
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