Carl Woods

Carl Jr. Woods, 73, of Nashville, Tennessee, passed away on July 17, 2026. Born September 17, 1952, in Kosciusko, Mississippi (Attala County), to Andrew Jackson Winters and Lottie May Woods, Carl distinguished himself early as a studious child despite battling polio. His work ethic showed itself young: he worked at a local grocery store, apprenticed under a carpenter at seventeen learning to build furniture, and at eighteen attended trade school to learn tax preparation — becoming the first African American in Kosciusko to serve his community as a tax preparer. He married Beatrice, and in 1973 the young family, with children Timothy and Jennifer, moved to Nashville, where Carl worked as a machinist at May Hosiery Mill, both parents laboring hard for the promise of a better future.

That better future came through education and technology. Carl enrolled at the University of Tennessee Nashville in 1975, discovered a passion for computer programming, and earned his associate degree in programming from Nashville State Technical Institute in 1978. In 1980 he joined First American Bank as a senior programmer, helping implement the bank's first point-of-sale credit authorization system before returning to Tennessee State University as an analyst and project leader, where he implemented the Human Resources System adopted across all Tennessee Board of Regents schools. In 1981 he founded the Professional Data Processors Association of Nashville to promote computer science in his community, and in 1995 he led a team of more than fifteen engineers in improving Metro Nashville Government's information services. His crowning achievement came after the 2000 presidential election, when he designed a groundbreaking voting machine — modeled on the reliability of the bank ATM — in partnership with Athan Gibbs, Sr., demonstrated before members of the United States Congress and featured on FOX, ABC, CBS, and the Associated Press. Though many called him a visionary, Carl humbly deflected such praise, giving thanks to God for blessing him with a creative mind.

Carl was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew Jackson Winters and Lottie May Woods, and his sister, Mildred Kerns. He is survived by his loving wife, Beatrice Woods; his son, Timothy Woods (Lisa); his daughter, Jennifer Woods; his grandchildren, Timothy Austin Woods, Jr., Joshua Jordan Woods, and Kailyn Elise Woods; his great-grandchildren, Kyren Bell and Emery Ocean Goddard; his nieces, Keeley Peden and Kinina Mallet; and a host of other relatives and friends. 

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