Ricky Woodard

Ricky Woodard was born Nov. 3, 1953, to the delight of his mom Eleanor "Ham" Hooten. He joined, St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, at an early age. Ricky was the life of the party, as cliched as that may sound, it's truth. When he entered a room,
he brought joy, jokes, and so much laughter. He was kind, generous and loving. There truly wasn't anything, Ricky wouldn't do for you. And he'd do it with a joke and that smile of his. When Ricky smiled, you smiled back— you couldn't help it because
his genuine love of life was contained in that grin and everyone responded.

He joined the Marines in 1972, soon after graduating from Pearl High School and later attended Tennessee State University. After serving in the Vietnam War, he returned home and met his wife, the late Brenda Johnson Woodard, in 1976. He worked as a surgical technician at Vanderbilt Medical Center and Patient Transporter with the Veteran's Administration where he was well loved and known by everyone. While at Vanderbilt, he was an active part of their stem cell research team and was awarded Commodore employee of the year. He also worked at MeHarry Hospital and retired in 2020. After retirement, he enjoyed travelling and on football weekends he could be found tailgating for his favorite team — the Tennessee Titans. Still, his favorite pastime was spending time with his family.

Ricky departed this life on November 29, 2023, after an extended illness. He was proud to be part of the stem cell research at Vanderbilt.

He leaves to cherish his memory his loving and devoted family: daughter Yolanda Woodard, of Atlanta; son Ricky (Dorothy Rene') Woodard Jr.; mother, Eleanor Hooten; brothers Caesar (Barbara) Woodard and Ken (Jennifer) Woodard; sister Sharon Peters; and a host of beloved grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and close friend  Tony (Gloria) Spratling and Tawanna Dalton.