Cover photo for Ricky Woodard's Obituary
Ricky Woodard Profile Photo
1953 Ricky 2023

Ricky Woodard

November 3, 1953 — November 29, 2023

Nashville

 

Ricky Woodard was born Nov. 3, 1953, to the delight of his mom Eleanor "Ham" Hooten. He joined, St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, at an early age. Ricky was the life of the party, as cliched as that may sound, it's truth. When he entered a room,
he brought joy, jokes, and so much laughter. He was kind, generous and loving. There truly wasn't anything, Ricky wouldn't do for you. And he'd do it with a joke and that smile of his. When Ricky smiled, you smiled back— you couldn't help it because
his genuine love of life was contained in that grin and everyone responded.

He joined the Marines in 1972, soon after graduating from Pearl High School and later attended Tennessee State University. After serving in the Vietnam War, he returned home and met his wife, the late Brenda Johnson Woodard, in 1976. He worked as a surgical technician at Vanderbilt Medical Center and Patient Transporter with the Veteran's Administration where he was well loved and known by everyone. While at Vanderbilt, he was an active part of their stem cell research team and was awarded Commodore employee of the year. He also worked at MeHarry Hospital and retired in 2020. After retirement, he enjoyed travelling and on football weekends he could be found tailgating for his favorite team — the Tennessee Titans. Still, his favorite pastime was spending time with his family.

Ricky departed this life on November 29, 2023, after an extended illness. He was proud to be part of the stem cell research at Vanderbilt.

He leaves to cherish his memory his loving and devoted family: daughter Yolanda Woodard, of Atlanta; son Ricky (Dorothy Rene') Woodard Jr.; mother, Eleanor Hooten; brothers Caesar (Barbara) Woodard and Ken (Jennifer) Woodard; sister Sharon Peters; and a host of beloved grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and close friend  Tony (Gloria) Spratling and Tawanna Dalton.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ricky Woodard, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Visitation

Friday, December 8, 2023

11:00am - 12:00 pm (Central time)

St Andrews Presbyterian Church

949 T S Jackson Ave, Nashville, TN 37209

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Funeral Service

Friday, December 8, 2023

Starts at 12:00 pm (Central time)

St Andrews Presbyterian Church

949 T S Jackson Ave, Nashville, TN 37209

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Interment

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Starts at 9:00 am (Central time)

Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery

McCrory Lane, Nashville, TN 37221

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