Obituary of James Allen Woodard

James Allen Woodard, Jr., was born July 22, 1935, in Lowell, Florida. He was the eldest child of his late parents, Cleona Smith Saunders and James Allen Woodard, Sr. Woody attended West Rockford High School in Rockford, Illinois. He passed the GED General Education Development test. After serving in the United States Army, he was honorably discharged as Airman First Class from Lowry Air Force Base. An avid hunter and outdoorsman, Woody spent much of his youth hunting and fishing near his Grandmother's Florida truck farm. In the West he developed an affinity for country music and enjoyed annual hunting excursions to lands owned by heirs of Black settlements in Oklahoma and Kansas. He is believed to be the first African-American gunsmith in Colorado and one of few in the West. He earned his gunsmithing credentials at the Colorado School of Trades in Lakewood and was the proud owner of Big Woody's Shooting Shop in East Denver. The City of Denver's first African-American Heavy Equipment Operator, he retired after 38 years. A good humored patriarch and gentle giant, "Mr. Woody" was respected by those in his East Denver neighborhood. James Allen Woodard. Jr. will be missed by those whose lives he touched. On April 29, 2016 the Lord called Mr. Allen Woodard, Jr. "Woody" home to eternal rest. In death he joins his parents; grandmother, Charlotte Rutledge; sister, Margery Joanne Woodard Coker; and son, James Allen Woodward, III. He is survived by wife, Ester Proctor Woodard; daughter, Aircause Denise Woodard (Anthony) Black; and son, Joseph Orlando Woodard. Others who mourn his passing include maternal uncle, Samuel Smith of Ocala, FL, sisters, Thelma Green Crawford of Orlando, FL, and Eleanor Saunders (Grady) Towns of Westminster, CO; grandchildren, Aviance Ne'co Woodard, Willie Lee Caldwell, Travon Edwards and James Allen Woodard, IV; nephews, Nathaniel Henderson of Ocala, FL, Michael E. Akins of Orlando, FL, and Brandon Scott (Yvette) Towns; nieces, Debbie L. Dubose (James) Hobbs of Orlando, FL and Erika Michelle Wyrick; several great grandchildren; and all the gun shop "regulars" who sat with him as he worked, laughed at his oft told stories, and settled the weighty matters of the world.