James David Woodard, beloved husband, brother, and father, passed away on July 27, , 2018. Jim was born in 
Springer, New Mexico, on November 27, 1945 to Marlin David Woodard and Mildred Adela Newton. He spent his early educational years in Farley, New Mexico and graduated from Springer High School. Through necessity in his early years, Jim learned to provide for his family when needed and was resourceful enough to invent ways to help provide for his mom, younger brothers and sisters when needed. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army on April 19, 1965. Jim’s specialized field was in electronics. During the eleven months he spent in Vietnam, his specialty was Ground Control Approach Radar Repairman. After his service in Vietnam he spent a year in Germany and married his first wife, Carol. He finished his military service at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. He returned to Raton and worked for ARF until UPS opened in Springer where he worked for 33 years as a Feeder driver and then retired. During his time of employment at UPS, Jim met and married Ruth Benavidez, and were married for 31 years. Jim was a brilliant man and had an inventive mind that most people were in awe of and would never give up until the puzzle was solved. He could fix anything. Jim was preceded in death by by his parents, two sisters, two sons and a nephew. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, daughter Kimberly, sisters Texas Jo Kaberline (Jeff) Canyon City, CO., Evelyn Riecken (Mark) Columbus, NE, Ethel Bernal (Steve) San Marcos, CA. Brothers, Bob Wadlington of Ponce De Leon, Fl., Andy Wadlington (Cindy) Hanover, KS, two grandsons, Bryan Sanchez and Adrian Sanchez. One granddaughter, Danielle. He is also survived by his mother-in-law, Julia Madrid, sister- in-law, Bernice McLaughlin (Paul), brother-in-law, Mike Benavidez and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 3:00 to 5:00 at Yaksich-Long Funeral Home in Raton on July 31st . Funeral services will be held on Wednesday August 1st at 11:00 at the First Baptist Church in Springer, New Mexico. Interment will follow at the Abbott Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Vietnam Veterans of Americahttps://vva.org/donate.
Arrangements and celebration of love for James David Woodard are under the direction of the Yaksich-Long Funeral Home of Raton.
