Margaret Elizabeth Woodfin

Margaret Elizabeth (Miller) Woodfin, 76, of St. Joseph, passed away Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 10:00 A.M. Monday at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 555 Delaware, Benton Harbor. Services will conclude at the church. Friends may call from 2:00 until 5:00 P.M. Sunday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Memorial donations may be made to the Lake Michigan Catholic Elementary Schools. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Margaret “Lobby” was born on May 3, 1932, in Nashville, Tennessee. Lobby graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1954 with a degree in teaching and economics. Her teaching career encompassed over 20 years in the St. Joseph, Bridgman and Lake Michigan Catholic School Systems. Margaret was the recipient of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Golden Nugget Award in 1984. She was also awarded the National Catholic Education Association’s Presidential Award as well as the Diocese of Kalamazoo Teacher of the Year Award in 1988. She retired from Lake Michigan Catholic Schools in 1997. Lobby is survived by her husband of 54 years Edward John Woodfin whom she married on June 7, 1954 in Nashville, TN.. She is also survived by her five children Edward John (Michelle) Woodfin of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Margaret Lisa (Lloyd) Mearing of Paw Paw, MI; James Rice (Annette) Woodfin of Stevensville, MI; Mary Patricia (Jeffrey) Petrillo of Highland, MI and Kathleen Ann (Christopher) Estkowski of Pullman, MI.. She is survived by one brother, Rev. James Norman Miller and two sisters, Patricia Kyger and Mary Helen Klem. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Ashley; Kelsey; Sarah Jo; Megan Elizabeth; Amelia Elizabeth and Joseph Edward. Lobby was preceded in death by her father James Norman Miller and her mother Elizabeth Jenkins.