Robert A. "Bob" Woodham

Robert A. "Bob" Woodham, 84, died Monday, February 21, 2011, at Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center after an extended illness.

He was born in Andalusia, AL, on January 26, 1927, the son of the late John William Thomas Woodham and Wilma Baisden Woodham. He had lived in Kingsport since 1951.

Bob began his education in Engineering in 1944 when he graduated from high school and volunteered, as one of two students in his high school class, to enter military service in the "Army Specialized Training Program". The Army assigned him to engineering classes at the University of Mississippi and North Georgia College. He was assigned to Camp Blanding, FL. There, as one of twelve men selected from his Army infantry rifle company, he was assigned to New York University for further classes in electrical engineering. He was later transferred to the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment and was honorably discharged in 1946.

In the spring of 1947, Bob entered the University of Alabama's College of Engineering, from which he graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers and served five years in the Army Reserve. In 1950, Bob married Patricia Pat Dillon of Jacksonville, AL, and in early 1951 they moved to Kingsport to begin his thirty-five year career with the Chemicals Division of Eastman Kodak Company.

The last 20 years of his career were in International Marketing with Eastman Kodak Chemicals Division. In 1977, while living in Hong Kong, he was the first person from the Eastman Kodak Company to be invited by the People's Republic of China to visit China as a guest of the government and initiate business relations. This invitation followed the "opening" of China by the U.S. government. He and his family lived in Hong Kong for 5 years, where he served as Manager of the Eastman Kodak Austral-Asia Region. He established new offices in Singapore and Tokyo. He retired from Eastman Kodak in 1986.

Bob was invited to join Rotary International in 1977 in Hong Kong. After he returned to Kingsport, he continued his involvement with Rotary and was elected President of the Rotary Club of Kingsport in 1988. From 1994 to 1995, he served as Governor of the Tennessee-Virginia District 7570 of Rotary International, and from 1997 to 2002, he served as treasurer. He was chair for three years of Rotary's International Cultural Exchange Program in Tennessee-Virginia. Bob was an avid supporter of the Rotary Foundation, earning him recognition as a Benefactor and as a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

He served the Boy Scouts of America in various capacities for over 25 years and was a member of the Order of the Arrow. He was an active member of the Service Corps of Retired Executives SCORE and the International Executive Service Corps. He served on the board of the Netherland Inn Association and Volunteer Kingsport; was a long time member of Ridgefields Country Club, and served twice as president of the Mr. and Mrs. Club. He served as a volunteer on numerous civic committees.

Bob was an active member of the First Broad Street United Methodist Church since joining in 1951. Over the years, he served on the Church Leadership Council the Administrative Board, chair of the annual financial budget campaign, the Staff Parrish Relations Committee, chair of the Board of Trustees, and as vice chair of the Building Committee to restore the First Methodist Church now known as the "Woodyard Center" on Church Circle. He was a loyal member of the Pairs and Spares Sunday School Class.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Lorena Woodham Plaster; his son, John Keith Woodham; and his son-in-law Frank E. Pardue.

Surviving are his wife, Patricia, of Kingsport; two daughters, Elizabeth Betsy Woodham Pardue and Lucy Woodham Stewart, and her husband, Chilton T. Stewart, all of Kingsport; two nephews, J. Jordan Plaster, Jr., and his wife Jenny, Tuscaloosa, AL, and Robert F. Plaster, and his wife, Betty, Millbrook, AL; and four granddaughters, Patricia Katherine Pardue Carrico, and her husband, Kenneth L. Carrico III, Christina Keith Pardue, Emily Keith Stewart and Madeline Taylor Stewart.

A family graveside service will be held on Thursday, February 24th at East Lawn Memorial Park. A memorial service will be conducted at 2:00 pm Thursday at First Broad Street United Methodist Church with Rev. Mickey Rainwater officiating. A celebration of Bob's life and reception will follow the memorial service.

Pallbearers are: Chilton T. Stewart, Kenneth L. Carrico III, J. Jordan Plaster, Robert F. Plaster, Robert C. Dillon, Jr.

Honorary pallbearers are: Thomas W. Todd, Carroll Richardson, Witt I. Langstaff, Charles L. Seay, Farris Jackson and members of the Rotary Club of Kingsport and Past District Governors of Rotary International District 7570.

Memorial contributions may be made to First Broad Street United Methodist Church, PO Box 1346, Kingsport, TN 37662.