Ruth M. (Wann) Woodcock

Ruth Marie Woodcock, nee Wann, 94, of Washington, passed away on  Sunday, June 9, 2019 at the Arbors at South Point.

Ruth was born 10/19/1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Joseph Edgar and Ruth Pauline Elizabeth Wann, nee Muehlemann.

She attended Garfield and Shepard grade school and Roosevelt High School.  She quit high school a semester before graduation because she didn’t want to give an oral book report.  As a young woman she worked briefly at Southwestern Bell in St. Louis.  She attended St. Mathew Church on Jefferson in St. Louis.

Ruth met Vernon Oscar Woodcock when she was visiting her cousin in Stanton.  She was attracted to the shirtless farm boy in jeans putting up hay on the Woodcock farm.  On their first date they toured Meramec Caverns and she said she was cold and Vernon put his arm around her and that was it.  They were married on May 4th, 1944.  Vernon was inducted into the army on 2/18/1943 and served his country in WW II in Europe and returned home on 11/19/1945. They made their home on Nebraska Street in south St. Louis and shared a flat with her mom, dad and grandmother.  Vernon worked at Southwestern Bell.

They had three children; Richard Edgar Woodcock, Susan Adele Woodcock and Jude Woodcock. They moved to High Ridge to raise their children in a rural town.

They later moved to their dream home, a small farm in Clover Bottom, which they bought shortly before Vernon retired from Southwestern Bell.  There they enjoyed raising few head of cattle, a bountiful vegetable garden, putting up hay, fishing, hosting hayrides and barbecues, and babysitting their granddaughter, Maggie.

Ruth enjoyed sewing, crocheting, dancing, cutting grass, fishing, camping, traveling and gardening.

Ruth’s eyes would sparkle when she smiled her big smile and she knew how to dress in style and grace with vibrant colors on her fit body. 

She was a member of Peace Lutheran Church in Washington, where she was a long-time quilter and crocheted prayer shawls.  

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Vernon Woodcock; her son, Richard Edgar Woodcock, who passed away late last year; a brother in childhood; Robert Edgar “Bobby” Wann; a brother-in-law Edwin Hammerschmidt II and a granddaughter, Zhanara Adalyn Scherer.

Ruth is survived by her two daughters and five grandchildren. Daughter, Susan Adele Woodcock of Washington and grandchild Maggie Lee and husband Brian Schrock of Fenton.  Great grandchildren, Arya Gray and Cora Rose Schrock. Daughter, Jude Woodcock and her husband Jeff Miller of the USVI.  Daughter-in-law Denise O. Scherer, wife of the late Richard Edgar Woodcock.  Grandchild, Jay Goff and his wife Suzanne Vaughan Goff and great grandchildren Mia DeGan Vaughan Goff and Vaughan Patrick Goff of Creve Coeur.  Grandchild, Barton Goff and great grandchildren Callan Miles Goff and Lilly Marie Goff of Chesterfield.  Sister Jeanette Hammerschmidt, Sunset Hills. Nieces, Janis Hammerschmidt and husband Pat Griffin of Hillsboro, Peggy Hammerschmidt and husband Gerry Krizek of Maplewood.  Nephew, Ed Hammerschmidt III and wife Debbie of Arizona. Former son-in-law and friend Randy Phillips of Creve Coeur.

Visitation on Monday, June 17, 2019, from 10 am until time of service at 11 am at Peace Lutheran Church, Washington, with Rev. Aimee Appel, officiant.  Interment will be at 2 pm in the Stanton Cemetery, Stanton, Missouri. Memorial donations are appreciated to the Franklin County Humane Society. The Woodcock family was served by the Nieburg-Vitt, Miller Funeral Home of Washington.

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