Donald Scott Woods

March 12. 1934 – February 10, 2021

Donald Scott Woods passed away peacefully at his home on February 10, 2021.

Born March 12, 1934 in Bluefield, West Virginia, Don grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. There, he formed friendships that lasted throughout his lifetime, especially his fellow William Fleming Sports Hall of Famers, Al McClearn, Don Divers and Corbin Bailey.

Don received a football scholarship from Virginia Tech. He transferred to Austin Peay University, where he played football and broke three school records in track. After graduating in 1957, he enlisted in the Navy Flight Program at Pensacola, Florida. For two years, he was the starting end on the famed Pensacola Navy Goshawks football team.

After leaving the Navy, Don attended the University of Tennessee and earned a master’s degree. While coaching track at North Carolina State University, he won a competitive national fellowship to the University of Michigan, where he was awarded his third college degree, magna cum laude.

Don started his long teaching and coaching career in 1961 at Needham Broughton High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He later taught at Rocky Mount Academy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, then at Staunton River and Jefferson Forest High Schools in Bedford County, Virginia. He returned to North Carolina to teach eight more years before retiring in 1996.

Don’s many interests and talents included sports, painting, sports, woodwork, sports, classical music, and sports. He was also well known for his unforgettable way of telling a story, sports, golf (five hole-in-ones) and, finally, sports. He had many friends — and he wanted to list them all here as a final thank you and goodbye, but the newspaper does not have enough space.

Don was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn Van Wagoner. He leaves behind his son Jack Mann and wife, Lisa; his daughters Holly Woods Layne, Laura Carrington, Leslie Ann Hicks and her husband, Kirk; his grandchildren, Jake Stinnett and Jason, Jessica, Isaac and Sarah Mann; his college roommate Bill “Roomy” Alexander of Georgia; and his Bedford coffee buddies.

The family is most thankful for his caretaker, Tracey Goodman, who provided Don much happiness in his last days.

A memorial honoring his life will be held this spring.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to his favorite charity, The Salvation Army of Roanoke.