John L Woodward's Obituary
John L. Woodward passed away on February 23, 2023 in Orem, Utah at the age of 85. He was born in Ogden, Utah on September 30, 1937, lived in Provo as a young man, and went to Provo High School. He married Geraldine (Gerri) Hancock on June 4, 1964 after meeting at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. His parents are Lowell Woodward and Dorothy Sampson.
The surviving members of John and Gerri’s family are six children: Daughter Wendy W. Hill, of Irvine, CA wife of Boyd Hill, with sons Mark, Blake and Brent, daughter Jocelyn. Son Daniel L. Woodward of Provo, Utah, and his wife Shelly Whiting with sons Daniel L Jr, Joshua, and James and daughters Coral, Crystal, and Amanda. Daniel and Shelly Woodward have 12 grandchildren. Son Whitney H. Woodward and his wife Anne Carothers live in Heber City, Utah. Daughter Hillary Woodward lives in New York City, NY. Daughter Candice A. W. Hansen of Ft. Worth, Texas is the wife of Brian Hansen with their son Grey. Daughter Lindsey A. Sutton is the wife of Jasher Sutton living in Nashville, TN with daughters Allegra and Eliska.
As a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a proselyting mission in the New England States Mission in 1959-60 and subsequently served in administrative and service positions in the church, including Bishopric, High Council, Stake Historian, Stake Sunday School President, Family History Service Missionary, and San Antonio Temple Ordinance Worker.
He earned a B.S. in Chemistry in 1962 and a Bachelor of Engineering Science in Chemical Engineering in 1963 at BYU and a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering at Purdue University in 1967. His career was with the petrochemical industry and consultancies, serving this industry by specializing in computer control of units and risk analysis that included incident investigation of chemical explosions.
In his career, he published all or parts of eight technical books, 27 peer-reviewed, technical papers and 18 papers at symposia and conferences. The fields addressed in his literature include computer-control of petrochemical plants, risk analysis of accidental discharges, modeling aerosol drop sizes, evaporation, and rain-out. His last book treats risks posed by liquified natural gas (LNG). His work continues to be cited by other researchers.
He and Gerri traveled extensively, often with his sister Sharon and her husband David Smith. They toured Canada (where they lived for 2 years), United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Belgium, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and every State in the USA. They enjoyed playing card games, riding bicycles, and playing tennis. He was an avid NFL football fan. He also was the caretaker of multiple pets throughout his life—dogs, cats, rabbits, and hamsters. He loved conversing with all kinds of people and had a true zest for life. He is sorely missed by all who love him.
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