Thomas Woodson

WOODSON

Professor Thomas Miller Woodson, age 83, died August 17th at Parkside Village in Westerville, Ohio after a valiant Struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Born on April 24, 1931 to the late Dr. J. Tyree and Lucy Woodson. Tom graduated from The Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut. He received his B.A., M.A. and PhD in English from Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. At Yale, Tom was chosen for membership in Phi Beta Kappa and The Elizabethan Club. He served in the Army Central Intelligence Corps from 1953-1955. Tom Taught English at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts from 1959-1961. Tom began a long career with the English Department and The Ohio State University in 1963. He also served as Chairperson of The Comparative Studies Department at OSU from 1975-1977 retiring from the English Department in 1995. In 1968-1969, he was named a Fulbright Scholar and taught in the English Department at the University of Pau, France. He served as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of American Studies at Yale University from 1969-1970. His scholarship includes articles on American writers Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, and a book on Edgar A. Poe. His scholarship on Nathaniel Hawthorne included: Editor of ”The French and Italian Notebooks”; the General Editor of ”The Consular Letters”; and General Editor of ”The Centenary edition of the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne” all volumes published by The Ohio State University for Textual Studies. The Century Edition received an award from The London Times, England, as the Literary research book in 1995. Tom was President of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and received the House of Seven Gables Hawthorne Award for Hawthorne Scholar of the year in 1991. Tom is survived by his wife, Professor Nancy Potter Woodson; his daughter Paula Woodson Markovich and partner Beth Crook; daughter, Sarah Potter Lukken and husband, Commander Mark Lukken; son, Andrew T. Woodson and wife, Cary Hackett; grandson, Owen Mark Lukken; brother, John and wife Karin Woodson, and brother, James Woodson. Tom lived wisely, simply, and is so loved. There will be a memorial service for Tom at St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Worthington, Ohio on Saturday, August 23rd at 2 p.m.. The Woodson family will receive friends immediately after the service at a reception in Kilbourne Hall in the Church. The Woodson family wishes to thank Parkside Village and Vitas Hospice for their loving care to Tom and our family. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Disease Research, 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871 or Vitas Innovative Hospice Care in Dublin, Ohio. Arrangements by MORELAND FUNERAL HOME, Westerville, OH.