(PHOENIX) Due to capacity limits at All Saints Episcopal Church in central Phoenix and an inability to accommodate an overflow of guests as a result of school activities at All Saints, the memorial service to honor Grant Woods has been moved. It will still take place on Friday, November 12th, 2021 at 10a.m. but now be at the Orpheum Theater at 203 West Adams in downtown Phoenix.
Woods, a former Arizona Attorney General, accomplished trial lawyer and aspiring playwright passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, October 23rd, 2021.
Pastor Warren Stewart of the First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix will officiate. Stewart served as the Campaign Chairman for the successful drive to establish a paid Martin Luther King Holiday in Arizona in 1992, an effort Woods supported.
Expected eulogists include Charles Barkley and Cindy McCain.
“The continued outpouring of love and help for our family after Grant’s shocking passing has been extraordinary. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. My children and I are forever grateful for the kindness and love we have been graced with by so many friends. I’m still in shock. I can’t see the bottom of my grief, but I am comforted by the beautiful things I read that people say about Grant. He was loved by so many. And in the past few days I’ve been fortunate to tell a few of his close friends how much he loved them. Grant was bigger than life. He loved with enormous passion. He loved Arizona, he loved this country, his friends and most of all his family. We will honor this uniquely gorgeous man in a way he deserves,” said Galan Woods.
In lieu of flowers Galan Woods and her family request that donations be made to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of the Valley. Those interested may do so at https://www.bgcaz.org/grant-woods/.
Woods served Arizona with few equals. He was John McCain’s first Chief of Staff upon McCain’s elections to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. Eight years later he became Arizona’s Attorney General at the age of 36. Re-elected in 1994 with 80% of the vote Wood’s legacy will be one of a Republican who stood for environmental and consumer protection and civil rights. Indeed, he helped pioneer a landmark national settlement with the nation’s tobacco companies that changed health care in American and saved countless lives. More recently, Woods has been an independent political voice reminding us all what it means to put state and country before party or self-interest. His stirring eulogy of his friend, mentor and U.S. Senator John McCain, alongside President Biden will be remembered for both its power, and humility.
More recently, Woods had dived more vigorously into his life-long passion of writing and producing plays and musicals, several of which were and are set to emerge on big stages.
Besides Marlene, Woods is survived by his sons, Austin, Cole, Dylan, and daughters Lauren and Ava.
