Woodrow Julius Wiley
Woodrow Julius "Woody" Wiley, 86, of Springfield, passed away Sunday, February 15, 2009 at Friends Care Center, Yellow Springs.
He was born on May 20, 1922 in Catlettsburg, Kentucky to the late William Edgar and Fannie Belle (Dials) Wiley.
He was also preceded in death by brothers, Bill, Frank, Tom, Jim, and Ellis and a sister, Inez Dean.
He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Roberta (Arnett) Wiley; daughter, Susan Hess of Ft. Wayne, Indiana; sons, Stephan and Jeffrey Wiley of Springfield, and David (Diane) Wiley of Clearwater, Florida; five grandchildren, Paige, Bill, Brad, Denise, and Joe; four great grandchildren, Grace, Rose, Wiley, and Steve; two brothers, Chester (Lila Jean) Wiley and Paul Ed (Beverly) Wiley; a sister, Ilah (Marvin) Blevins, all of Ashland, Kentucky; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Woody retired from the Conrail Railroad Company (formerly, New York Central) in 1982 after 36 years of dedicated service as a brakeman and conductor. He had many interesting stories to share of his railroad days and some of those stories were featured in the Springfield News Sun on August 11, 2008. He dedicated his precious conductor's uniform to the Clark County Heritage Center and was greatly saddened when the beautiful New York Central passenger depot was torn down in Springfield. He also leaves behind many dear railroad friends and neighbors in the community of Beatty. His retirement years were spent in his blacksmith shop. His strongest passion was working in the garden growing strawberries and vegetables. He proudly served in the U.S. Navy in World War II on the Battleship "Indiana" as a gun captain right gun on turret 3. He participated in many fierce naval engagements in the South Pacific and often spoke of the awesome firepower of the sixteen inch guns on the American Battleships. He was awarded American Area Ribbon, Philippine Liberation with one star, Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with two stars and World War II Victory Ribbon. Dad will be deeply missed by all of us.
A graveside memorial service will be held in Vale Cemetery on Saturday, February 21 at 1:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Miami Valley United Baptist Church, c/o Larry Preston, 6776 Mosier Rd., Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.
The LITTLETON & RUE FUNERAL HOME is serving the family.
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