HARPSWELL – Penny (Wilma) Woods died on August 8, 2020, in Harpswell, Maine, after a brief illness.

Born on January 19, 1931, in Boston, daughter of Dr. Joseph Tiede and Helen E. Tiede (MacDonald), she was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Joseph Sumner Tiede. She is survived by her sons, Craig W. Woods and wife Kathleen, of Palo Alto, Calif., and Barry T. Woods and wife Susan, of Harpswell. She also leaves four beloved grandchildren, Jared, Marshall, Adam and Eric. Penny lived her early life in Dedham, Rockport and Sandwich, Mass., raised a family in Reading, Mass., and retired to Roseville, Calif., until moving to Maine in 2017.

Penny was raised in a small but close knit family, defined by her father, Joe, who was both a Harvard trained physician and Colonel in the U.S. Army, and her mother Helen, who was a devoted Christian Scientist, leading to a spirited family life. Penny inherited stubbornness, solid character, patience, respect for educational achievement and more than a little humor, refinement and beauty from both parents. One of her favorite sayings was “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

As a young woman she was graduated in 1949 from the Daycroft School in Stamford, Conn., a boarding school where she made many lifelong friends. Subsequently, she graduated from Garland Junior College (now Simmons College) in Boston. She married Edward Willcutt Woods, had two boys and after they divorced she became the sole provider and head of household in an era when divorce was frowned upon and woman had few professional outlets. She worked as an administrative assistant in the Boston area for much of her life and as a program manager for the Town of Wakefield.

She was a devoted mother and friend. When a close friend developed mesothelioma, she took him into her house and ministered to his needs during the last six months of his life. She was a woman of steadfast love, capable of remarkable self-sacrifice, even while dealing with her own challenges, including breast cancer in her forties when her children were in high school. She will be deeply missed by her boys, their wives, and her grandchildren, even as her lessons of love remains indelibly written on their characters.

Arrangements are under the care of Funeral Alternatives, 46 Bath Road, Brunswick, Maine. Condolences may be shared at http://www.funeralalternatives.net.

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