Obituary: Rev. Melinda Woody, 57, of Branford

Obituary courtesy of W. S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home:

Reverend Melinda Woody, Conference Evangelist, New England Conference, Northeastern Episcopal District, died at Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT on August 10, 2020.

She was born January 24, 1963 in Mount Vernon, NY, a daughter of the late William H. and Alberta Woody.

Rev. Woody attendee Mount Vernon City schools, she graduated from Mount Vernon High School and went on to continue her education at Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina where she earned a BS degree. She worked for the Westchester County Department of Social Services in New York; She was an Eligibility Examiner working with the homeless population until her retirement in 2004.

She preached her initial sermon in the Fall of 1993 at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church. She joined the St. Stephen’s AME Zion Church in 2005, she went on to become a member of the New England Conference, and upon completing her conference she was ordained an Elder in 2010. She was the mother of one son Erik P. Woody who was the love of her life. She worked faithfully as a member of Steward Board; WHOM Society leading the YAMS and Balm in Gilead.

Besides her son Erik; she is survived by her sister Rev. Alberta Woody of Branford, CT; her brothers, Rev. Charles H. Woody of Asheboro, NC; Mitchell Woody of Hollywood, FL and Milton T. Woody of Yonkers, NY; devoted friend Rev. Charlene Cooley; she is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends.