Dr. James F. Woodward

Dr. James F. Woodward, 88, Bismarck, passed away October 4, 2013, at Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center in Bismarck. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 11:00 AM at McCabe United Methodist Church in Bismarck with Rev. Rick Fossum officiating. Burial will be held at 2:00 PM at the ND Veterans Cemetery. A Masonic service will be held on Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck. Jim was born March 20, 1925, in St. Paul, MN, the son of LeRoy and Jessie Black Woodward. His family moved to Lehigh, ND, where he attended a country grade school. They moved to Dickinson when he began high school. Upon graduation in 1943, he entered the US Army, assigned to the Anti Aircraft Command and later to the Corps of Engineers. Discharged in 1946, he attended Dickinson State College and then graduated from Northern Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. Recalled to active duty in 1950, serving in Labrador and Greenland, he was discharged from service in 1953. Jim married Justine "Tina" Johnson on March 9, 1952, in Murphy, NC. They moved to Bismarck in 1953 where he opened a private optometry practice. In 1958 he joined the partnership of Quain and Ramstad Clinic, retiring in 1993. He was a member of McCabe United Methodist Church since moving to Bismarck. He was past president of the ND Optometric Association and served on a national committee of the American Academy of Optometry. He was past president of the Bismarck Rotary Club. An active Mason, he was past member of Lewis and Clark Masonic Lodge and past Grand Master and past Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Dakota. He was a member of Mandan York Rite Bodies and the Bismarck-Mandan Scottish Rite being Coroneted 33 Degree in 1994. He was past member of the Scottish Rite HELP Center board of directors, and a member of the El Zagal Shrine. Jim was an active member in the Wednesday morning Retired Men's Club. He also belonged to the American Legion, and was a lifetime member of the Elks Club. He enjoyed camping, fishing, golfing, playing bridge with his men's club, and hunting with his dog, "Bond". Jim will be missed by his wife, Tina of Bismarck; his two sons, James F. Jr. of Minneapolis, MN, and Daniel F. of Madison, WI, along with Dan's wife, Victoria Mollison, their three daughters, Laura, Erin, and Kimberly, and one great-grandson, Enrique. In addition he will be missed by his sister-in-law, Thespena of Sacramento, CA. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Woodward and his brother, David. The family prefers memorials to McCabe United Methodist Church or Scottish Rite HELP Center.

Dr. James F. Woodward

March 20, 1925 - October 4, 2013