Dorothy Woodward

Former Valley resident Dorothy Gertrude Jacobs Woodward passed away Sept. 5, 2007, at a long-term care facility in Valdez. She was 82.

Woodward was born March 27, 1915, in Power, Mont., the youngest daughter of Theodore and Margaret Hames Jacobs. She married James “Sherman” Woodward on Aug. 12, 1933 in Choteau. Mont. They were married 66 years and made their early home in Great Falls, Mont.

Woodward worked as a cook at construction camps while her husband worked as a mechanic for various road contractors. During World War II, she worked as a cook while he worked as a welder in the Bremerton, Wash., shipyards

In 1996, they moved to Kenny Lake, Alaska, and lived with daughter Diana and her husband Gale Manning.

The family later moved to Valdez, where Woodward acquired many lifelong friends.

Following the death of her husband, Woodward moved to Colony Estates in Palmer, then the Willi-Wah Senior Center in Wasilla. She finally resided in the Palmer Pioneer Home. In 2005, she returned to Valdez.

Woodward will be remembered for her quick smile, her sense of humor, wonderful cooking and love for dogs.

She is survived by daughters Donna Robbins of Gillette, Wyo., and Diana (Gale) Manning of Valdez; grandsons Steve and Mike Robbins; and great-grandchildren Jacque, Sean, Megan and Rachel Robbins, all of Gillette. Woodward was preceded in death by her parents; brothers William, Ted and Lewis Jacobs; and sister Myrtle (Sherman) Lyman.

Burial will be beside her husband in the Palmer Pioneer Cemetery.

Valley Funeral Home and Crematory of Wasilla and Palmer is assisting the family.