Mr. Shannon L. Woodward, 76, passed away on Sunday morning Jan. 4, 2009 at the St. Vincent de Paul Healthcare Center in Berlin, with family by his side. He was born in Dummer, NH on July 4, 1932 the son of Robert and Celia (Estes) Woodward and attended school in Milan until the eighth grade. He served in the US Army during the Korean War. Shannon worked on his father’s farm for many years and also worked on several farms in the Milan, Dummer and Berlin area and had also worked as a woodsman. He lived in Connecticut for a time where he worked dying and cutting cloth. In 1974, he married Eleanor Blanchard Ruel and he and his family lived in Errol for 10 years and then moved back to Berlin. He was a life member of the White Mountain Post #2520 VFW and was a former member of the Dupont-Holmes Post #82 American Legion in Gorham. He loved animals and his care givers at St. Vincent de Paul.
Members of the family include his wife Eleanor (Blanchard) Woodward of Berlin, NH; his children Carl Ruel and his wife Terri of Errol, NH, Toby Ruel and his wife Maureen of Bartlett, NH, Krystal Chapman and her husband Kevin of Berlin and Lora-lee Hamlin of Mooresville, NC; 7 grandchildren Mike Chapman, Stacey Smith, Julie and Devon Ruel, Amanda and Nicole Hamlin and Olivia Ruel; his brother David Woodward and his wife Janet of Milan, NH; his mother-in-law Mary Sgrulloni of Berlin, NH; his sister-in-law Ruth Boisvert; several nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by a son Scott Ruel, his parents Robert and Celia (Estes) Woodward, his brothers Arnold and Ainsley and by a sister Gloria Broome.
SERVICES: Funeral services will be held on Tuesday January 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM at the Bryant Funeral Home, 180 Hillside Ave., Berlin, NH. Relatives and friends may call at the Bryant Funeral Home on Tuesday afternoon and evening from 2 to 4 and 7 to 8 PM. Interment will be in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Milan, NH in the spring.