Bryan William Woods

Bryan William Woods of Morgan, Vermont was found dead in his apartment in Ocala Florida on Oct. 26, 2023. Bry was born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1969. He and his sister Patricia moved to Shelburne, Vermont in 1971 to join their adopting family Charles and Ellen Woods. They and their older brother Stott spent their young years in Vermont and then moved to Micanopy, Florida for their teenage years. When Bry was eight, the family spent a whole year living in Haiti. It was there that Bry began to display his kindness towards the less fortunate. He befriended the street boys of Jacmel, Haiti, often bringing them home so that we could feed them or treat a superficial wound. His tenderness for the underdog was a defining characteristic of him throughout his life.

When Bry was 16, and his two older siblings were away at school, the family arranged for a 16-year-old from Germany to come for half the school year. Max Lemme and Bry became lifetime friends.  In the following years, they traveled together first in Europe, and the next summer in the United States. To this day, Max, his wife, Anke and their two sons Paul and Leo are extensions of the Woods family.

After graduating from high school in Gainesville, Florida, Bry went back to Vermont to go to college at Lyndon State College. He graduated from there with a degree in recreational management. He stayed in Lyndonville and coached at Lyndon Institute for 10 years. He coached track and soccer and was the assistant coach when the LI soccer team defeated CVU in 2000 in the playoffs. That game is still celebrated as “the biggest upset in Vermont High School sports”.  He also managed the summer swim program at Power’s Park.  As a teacher and coach, he was always paying attention to the less athletic and shy kids. Everyone who came to practice got in the game. He was married to Heather Wheeler and was welcomed into her extended family. The Langmaid's helped make those the best years of his life.

In 2013 he began driving trucks in the oil fields of Texas and then in 2018 he moved back to Ocala and drove for Penske Trucking.  

Over the years he dealt with bouts of opioid addiction, often started by an injury or surgery that put him on painkillers. He heroically pulled himself out of the darkness many times, but it became harder and harder.  In the end the addiction won.

Bryan is survived by his parents, Charles and Ellen (Missy) Woods of Morgan; by his brother Charles Stott Woods of St. Johnsbury, Vt, his sister Patricia Sohn, brother-in-law Benjamin Smith and niece Kyra Smith of Gainesville, his niece Audrey Woods Vascik and his nephew Isaac Woods plus several uncles and cousins. 

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