Peter Hanson Woodward was born January 8,1974 in Pusan Korea. He was adopted by Gary and Karen Woodward, arriving LaGuardia Airport September 14, 1978 blessing their home with songs and stories (in Korean) and highly energetic curiosity. He was naturalized a U.S. citizen September 5, 1986 in Saint Louis MO. He attended high school at Westminster Christian Academy, where he swam, ran cross country, and joined the Wilderness Club. Then he studied at West County Technical High School and privately in an Auto Repair shop. After working several years as cook in Clayton MO, Peter moved to Maine where he met Linda Trimmer his companion for the next thirteen years, during which time they also lived and worked in Lakeland Florida, La Crosse Wisconsin, and Denton Texas. Peter spent his last few years in Bryan Texas and passed away there on April 15, 2024.

He was preceded in death by his companion, Linda Trimmer; his grandparents, Hanson E. and Daisy Lyles Woodward and Arthur C. and Jean Wilson Sucsy, and by his uncle David C. Sucsy.

He is survived by his parents Gary J. and Karen Sucsy Woodward of Saint Louis MO; his sisters Sarah (Eric) Ernst of Maui HI, and Elisabeth (Steven) Fraser of Manchester MO; nephew Steven Fraser, nieces Hayden Ernst and Alice Fraser; four uncles, six aunts, thirteen first cousins and their spouses and 34 great nieces and nephews. And by his faithful dog "Duke" who will be adopted by Peter's cousin Josh Sucsy of Connecticut.

He will be laid to rest in the Woodward plot of Prairie Mound Cemetery, Argyle, Texas at 2:00 pm April 25, 2024. A graveside funeral is planned for family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Micah Project https://micahprojecthonduras.org/how-to-help/donate.html. This ministry was founded by Michael Miller, a friend to Peter in high school. They take abandoned boys off the street and give them a home and train them to lead in a difficult country, Honduras.

I Joshua Sucsy have so many delightful memories of him. From the

time he sat with his toy cars waiting for me to come play (on the

night I was born) he was a light in my life. I wish I could have stayed

better connected over the past few years. He is a beautiful soul who

just didn't ever quite run at the same frequency as the world around

him and had to deal with way more speed bumps than anyone

should, but I hope the next stage has wonderful things in store for

him. I know that he loved Duke and Duke loved him too, so that

makes Duke family too. I love that I can make sure Duke stays a part

of the family and help keep Peter's memory alive.

Things that were most important to Peter were the water, anything

mechanical, electronics, and anyone who would be his friend.

Water was always easy for him, From splashing in the ocean on Long

Island, to going fishing with missionary friends, to joining the swim

team, life guarding in the summer, and serving on sailing crew of our

next door neighbor, to jumping out of the boat at the Armstrong's

pond causing Mark Armstrong to get soaked when the boat flipped,

to canoeing at Uncle Bob's in Maine.

There is nothing Peter liked better than tools and more tools. He

loved to take things apart. Using a lawn mower to mow was not

nearly as interesting as taking one apart. But he liked the impact of

Mr. Gladney's snow blower. That's why Tech School was right for him

and fixing cars in Doug Peluso's garage gave him knowledge he used

when he had to get his own vehicles moving again. Model cars and

trains and fireman's hat with light and siren occupied him in his

youth and there were several remote-control cars in his apartment

10 days ago.

His most prized possession as a teen was a boom box and he

carried it everywhere. As with tools, Peter collected cds, dvds, lps,

smart phones, laptops – mostly ones discarded by others. But it was

the collecting that seemed to matter most – the more the better, and

someday he would listen or watch them. His collection of smart

phones was near 20 and if the current one failed somehow, he

would resurrect another.

Peter's best friend was usually the one he had just met. But there were

many who stuck by him despite his unique ways, like John Gibbons

the neighbor boy, Robby Ayers, and Michael Miller.

Mentors and tutors like Bob Canfield, John Witt, Eddie Jones, Paul

Trambarulo, Mike Wiers, Andrey Loban, Mr. Wei did their best to

guide Peter academically and spiritually.

His Asian heritage was enhanced in the Holt Korean association, our

sponsored Loatian family of 9, our two Vietnamese foster sons, Hieu

and Dzung, our Japanese seminary family, the Kanamoris, and his

Chinese tutor Mr. Wei. Russians and Czechs and Hungarians all

came into play as well.

Church was always central in Saint Louis, so Peter was in all things

available, Sunday school, Pioneeers, Royal Rangers, music camp,

VBS, and so on. He was baptized by immersion after several weeks

of study with the minister and he never forgot it, but continued

believing in Jesus and knowing he had an important relationship to

his creator, but for him church was not a good fit.

After Peter went out on his own, he proved to be a survivor who

could find work and find new friends relatively quickly. Starting in

Maine, to Florida, to Wisconsin, to Texas, he worked most often as a

cook, and he made friends. Not all the friends had his best interests

at heart, but he was a survivor.

Having discovered his hypertension as a teen, he didn't always keep

it under control, and finally his heart began to fail him.

We always stayed in touch and texted or talked on the phone during

those twenty plus years. We talked about how to stay healthy, how

to get another job, how to read what some government agency

wanted from him, how to budget, etc, but Peter had his own ways of

doing things and he was a survivor.

The one friend who was really constant and true to Peter was Duke

his terrier mix. He was a protector and constant companion until

the confusing day that Peter didn't come home.