Mary Martha (Marcie) Woodward

July 16, 1941 - May 28, 2024

Born and raised in Middletown, Connecticut, Marcie was the third of four children of John Albert and Mary Ann (Jelinek) Schukoske. At Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, Marcie studied French, a choice that defined her professional life in many ways. While in college she met William H. Woodward, a Navy ROTC student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He graduated and was commissioned as a Navy Officer in May, 1964. They married in July 1964 and welcomed their two sons, Brian born in 1973 and Mitchell in 1976 in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 1979 they relocated to Tucson, Arizona. During their 60-year marriage, Marcie, Bill and their family spent summers in Chatham on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where Marcie enjoyed boating, fishing, water skiing, and cultural visits, They have been members of Chatham Yacht Club since 1982.

With her language proficiency and enthusiasm for French culture, Marcie taught French at the high schools in Dover Plains, New York, and later in Tucson, Arizona, where she chaired the Department of Foreign Languages at Amphitheater High School. During seven summers, she led student groups on European study-tours.

Her teaching excellence brought professional awards, in 1991 from the French Embassy/American Association of Teachers of French to participate in a Training of Trainers course in Paris, and in 1987 and 1994 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to participate in Summer Seminars on Francophonie. She was awarded a Fulbright exchange grant to teach on the island of Guadeloupe in the French West Indies in 1994-1995. Marcie retired from teaching in 1997.

Marcie then became involved in corporate tour management and used her language skills as a translator and tour leader in the US and Canada for Francophone visitors. Her patriotic reaction to 9/11 was to become a contract French linguist for the US Government and spend much of the next 16 years in New York City, Miami, Chicago and overseas working on national security assignments. Marcie had a passion for international travel and, in addition to government travel, traveled to Africa and Asia with her sister Jane. She always came back with interesting insights, stories and souvenirs.

Marcie was a positive, joyous and loving person who was firm when pursuing her interests or protecting her family. Marcie made friends all over the world, and her memory will be kept alive by the vast network of people who love her. She is preceded in death by her brothers, Albert John Schukoske and Paul Louis Schukoske, and her parents. She is survived by her husband Bill, her sister Jane, her sisters-in-law Merle and Marjorie, son Brian and his wife Teri, granddaughter Mary, son Mitch and his wife Julie, nephews Jay, Jim, and Paul, nieces Holly and Cara, and four great nephews Jacob, Erich, Gavin and Ethan, and their children.

A Mass will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, July 13 at Holy Redeemer Church in Chatham. Interment will follow at Seaside Cemetery in Chatham. A Celebration of Life will start at 1PM on Sunday, July 14 ( Bastille Day ) at the Chatham VFW Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.