Rae Woody

Rae Woody, 96 of Elkton, MD, passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones.

Born in Kettle Island, Kentucky, she was the daughter of the late Ervin and Sudie Smith. She was a coal miner and a preacher’s daughter. Often telling stories of growing up in a little shack in a coal camp in Kentucky. Growing up her and her 4 siblings didn’t have much, but they all played a vital role in keeping their family going. Rae often tended to the outside work and the animals when she wasn’t at school. Rae would help her Mama in the kitchen, and she would help sew clothing for the family. Rae spoke of the immense love they all had for one another. When she was 22, Rae and her sisters took the 18-hour journey to Detroit, Michigan, in the hopes of finding work. Rae found a job working the elevators in a downtown office building. She loved that job because she was able to dress up, wearing her bright red lipstick every day. On one of her days off she was sunbathing outside of her apartment, when a man approached her and told her he was going to marry her, and that’s exactly what happened. Rae spoke of Ralph with a glitter in her eye, she said he swept her off her feet. Married in 1952, they had their first child the same year.  Ralph took a job in Newark, DE with Chrysler. They moved around a little before finding an empty lot in Elkton, MD and Rae picked their house out of a catalog and this is where she raised her 4 children. Rae treasured her family and her friends, she was the caretaker of her grandchildren, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She loved the sounds of the kids playing outside in the yard as she was inside making a pot of her pinto beans and cornbread. Rae enjoyed gardening, cooking, canning, shopping, driving around in her Ford- F150, getting a perm at the local salon, painting her long nails, her red lipstick, watching her soap operas, and hosting family events. Rae had a great sense of humor; she could always make you laugh with her witty comments. Her smile and laugh were contagious. She will be remembered as a strong, fierce, and loving woman.

Rae is survived by her four children Kathryn Stewart, Timothy Woody, Lisa Garvine, all of Elkton, MD, and Kimberly Garvine (Eddie) of Perryville, MD. 8 Grandchildren: Denise Lavery (Tommy), Sherry Stewart, Anthony Woody, Shawn Woody (June), Christopher VanGilder, Chelsea Hayes, Abagail Magaw, Ashlynn Mahala. 13 great-grandchildren. 12 great-great grandchildren.

Rae is preceded in death by her Dad: Ervin Smith, her Mom: Sudie Smith, her Husband: Ralph Woody, her Siblings: Samuel Smith, Arlene Huxtable, Bettie Mullersman, and Dorothy Boyne. Her Son-in-Laws: Bill Stewart and Wayne Garvine, and her grandchild-in-law Adam Hayes.

Services are Private.