Brian Chatfield Woodward

 

Died December 27, 2001

College: Calhoun

Widow: Mrs. Amanda C. Strunc
843 Angel Wing Drive
Sanibel, FL 33957-4802
239-472-1437
bonnee@embarqmail.com

Children: Bradford, 1967; Jonathan, 1970

My Dad grew up in New London, CT and went to South Kent School for his preparatory education. Upon graduating from SKS he went on to Yale just like his father had, great-grandfather had and so on. My Dad was very proud to have been a part of Yale’s graduating class of 1961. I’m certain his experiences in New Haven molded him into the man, husband and father he was.

Upon graduating from Yale my father joined the Navy and went through Officers Candidate School. He served aboard the destroyer USS Charles H. Roan which was deployed in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas in the early ‘60’s. He was proud to have been a part of the U. S. flotilla monitoring Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the Navy, my Dad worked for a short time with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and Pitney Bowes in Connecticut. In 1971, he moved the family from the Northeast down to Northern Virginia to work for the Federal government. His career as a government executive spanned more than 30 years, first with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and then with the Department of Energy, where he was a senior official specializing in emergency fuel supply policy and planning.

My Dad was a lifelong sportsman. He enjoyed football while in preparatory school and was an accomplished sailor. As an avid fisherman and hunter, he taught my brother and me the joys of said pursuits. He also reveled in our achievements in competitive athletics.

His friends would agree that my father was a gentleman of uncommon decency. While he never suffered fools lightly, he never took advantage of those who were unable to meet him on an equal footing. He was scrupulously honest and thoroughly knowledgeable. He was always fair and knew when to speak and when to listen.

My Dad was an accumulator of stuff and he loved to fix things. He could fix anything from a leaky faucet to a faulty fuel pump. He loved to cook, and he enjoyed wine. He became a Sommelier just for the fun of it. My Dad had a great sense of humor and he loved a good time. He’s been gone for nine years now, and I miss him dearly. God bless, Pops…God bless.

—by Jon Woodward