James Dudley Woolf Sr., PhD

James Dudley Woolf Sr., PhD, 93, died March 4, 2008, at the Parkview Hospital in Ft. Wayne, Ind. He was born July 7, 1914, in the Mary's Chapel community north of Rector, the son of the late James Edgar and Anna Erin (Mack) Woolf.

He married Carolyn Meier on Dec. 20, 1953, in Paragould. She preceded him in death in 1982. He married his second wife, Mary Stonebarger, on Dec. 1, 1986. She preceded him in death in 1990. Four brothers and two sisters also preceded him in death. He was a U.S Navy Lt. Jg. veteran serving during World War II in the South Pacific. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Wayne.

He graduated from the Greenway High School in 1934, earned a bachelor of arts degree from the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, a master of arts degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University.

Survivors include a son, James and wife Michelle Woolf of Ft Wayne; two daughters, Elizabeth and husband Robert Ridlon of Troy, Ill., and Annelle and husband Steve Maurer of Yucaipa, Calif.; a brother, Charles and wife Joan Woolf of Norwich, Ohio; two sisters, Martha Madison of Piggott, and Anita (Reed) Perryman of Ozark, Mo.; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Memorial services were held Saturday, March 8, at the First Presbyterian Church in Ft Wayne, with Dr. John Stephen Park officiating. Burial was in the Rice Cemetery in Elkhart, Ind. Memorials may be given to the First Presbyterian Church of Ft Wayne. D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Home of Ft. Wayne was charged with the arrangements.