Woodward, Marianna Boaz

Dr. Marianna "Missy" Boaz Woodward passed away 
unexpectedly on Sunday, July 25, 2010, in Fairbanks.

She is remembered and mourned by countless family and 
friends in Alaska and on both coasts of the United States. 

Born in Charlottesville, Va., on Jan. 27, 1951, Missy grew up on 
her family's apple farm south of town in Covesville. She 
graduated from Lane High School in Charlottesville and 
attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta one year before 
transferring to Davidson College in North Carolina. When she 
graduated with honors in 1973, she was the first female 
graduate in the school's history. She and her husband, Kes, 
who graduated with her from Davidson the same year, were 
married in 1971. 

The couple moved to Alaska in 1977, living in Juneau and 
Anchorage before moving to Fairbanks in 1981. An art major at 
Davidson and full-time studio potter during her first few years 
in Alaska, Missy decided to become a doctor and completed 
three years of undergraduate science courses in Juneau and 
Fairbanks before entering the WAMI medical program. She 
received her medical doctor's degree from the University of 
Washington in 1987 and completed her pediatric residency at 
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H. in 1991.

Missy joined Tanana Valley Clinic in 1991, and in addition to 
seeing pediatric patients, served as the clinic's president and 
for several years as its first medical director. She continued to 
practice with the remarkable staff of TVC and Fairbanks 
Memorial Hospital at the time of her death.

Missy was preceded in death by her father, Emmett Daniel 
Boaz Jr.; her mother, Marianna Wilson Boaz; and her sister, Ada 
Cornelia Boaz.

She is survived by her husband, Kesler Woodward of Fairbanks; 
son, Eli Woodward and his partner Becca Lang of Seattle; 
brothers, Emmett Daniel Boaz III and Wilson Ashby Boaz of 
Virginia; sister, Emily Katherine Kroehler of Virginia; treasured 
nieces and nephews now living in Virginia, Texas and 
Fairbanks; and her husband's family in South Carolina. 

A memorial service for Missy will be held at 4 p.m., Thursday, 
July 29, at Zion Lutheran Church, 2982 Davis Road, with Pastor 
Susan Granata of Christ Lutheran Church officiating. A 
reception will follow at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be 
directed to YWCA Pathways for Women, 6027 208th St. SW, 
Lynwood, WA 98036.

Contact Becca Lang at rlang@ywcaworks.org or (425) 774-
9843, Ext. 226. 

Published in Daily News-Miner on July 27, 2010