Woodland, John (1924-2001)

"Mennonite Brethren Herald" obituaries: 2001 Aug 3 p. 29

Birth date: 1924 Sep 7

text of obituary:

JOHN WOODLAND

John Woodland of Abbotsford, B.C. passed away June 17 after a long battle with cancer. He was born Sept. 7, 1924 to Homer and Louise Woodland in Burbank, Calif., the 2nd of 4 sons. After finishing high school in Van Nuys, Calif., he entered Bible Institute of Los Angeles (Biola) in 1943. His studies were interrupted for 2 1/2 years due to conscription. He graduated from Biola in 1949. He married Lydia, a classmate, in October 1949. They prepared for a career of mission service in India with TEAM, but health problems and visa refusals would not allow them to serve. He became a teacher in 1957, teaching junior high math and science in Chico, Calif. In 1964, after studying a year at the University of Arkansas, he moved his family to Abbotsford and joined the faculty at Trinity Junior College (now Trinity Western University), where he taught for over 20 years. He is remembered for his poetry, including "The Epic of Easter", a poem about the Passion Week, written while he was stationed in Europe after the war. In his retirement, he continued to write serious and humorous poems, many of which were published, most recently in the collection Poems for Saints and Sinners, his third book of poetry, in October 2000. He was a life-long student of the Bible, reading through it in 5 languages. He taught a seniors' Bible class at Central Heights MB Church in Abbotsford for many years, until cancer kept him housebound. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 1997; surgery in January 1998 was successful, but cancer returned 2 years later and was deemed inoperable. He lived his final 3 months in Menno Hospital, cheerful and uncomplaining to the end. He is mourned by Lydia; children Rebecca Hawley of Honolulu, Hawaii, Mary Balzer of Abbotsford, Dan of Miami and Andy of Abbotsford; 8 grandchildren; and 3 brothers. A memorial service was held June 22 in Central Heights MB Church, with Chris Douglas and Henry Wiebe ministering.