Percival Bugbee Woods, 99, died on Aug. 12, 2015 in Sandwich, NH. Percy was born on April 9, 1916 in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont to Milo Emerson Woods and Esther Rhoda (Rice) Woods. He was married to Alice Millicent White on June 8, 1938. He is survived by his seven children: Lawrence Alan and his wife Kathleen of State College, Pennsylvania; Millicent Ann Gable and her husband David of Anaheim Hills, California; Frederick Earl and his wife Elizabeth of Boones Mill, Virginia; Dorothy Louise Chronister and her husband Rodney of Manchester, New Hampshire; Robert Emerson and his wife Marie of Margate, Florida; Margaret Elaine Jackson and her husband Lewis of Sandwich, New Hampshire; and Marilyn Elizabeth Epstein and her husband Alan of Essex Junction, Vermont. He is also survived by 24 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews. Percy was preceded in death by his wife, Alice on April 14, 2013, just weeks before their 75th wedding anniversary. He was also preceded in death by his parents, four half brothers, Edwin Leslie, Henry Clement, Royal Thomas and Leon Holt Woods; three brothers Sedgewick Erland, Allen Milo, and Leo Royal Woods; and his sister Violene Ida Parker of Georgetown, Kentucky.
Percy graduated from Woodstock (VT) High School in 1934 as valedictorian of his class. Percy and Alice lived in Springfield, Chester and Bridgewater Corners, Vermont before moving in 1962 to White River Junction, Vermont where they made their home for 41 years. Percy worked at Jones and Lamson and Bryant Chucking Grinder Company in Springfield, and in 1958 took a position as Instrument Maker in the Physics Department at Dartmouth College where he worked until retirement in 1981. After retirement Percy and Alice spent many winters in their second home in St. Petersburg, Florida. They lived with their daughters Margaret and Dorothy in Sandwich and Manchester, New Hampshire between 2004 and his death in 2015.
Percy became a born-again Christian in 1954 and was active in his churches at Oak Chapel in Bridgewater Center, Upper Valley Assembly of God in Wilder, the West Lebanon Baptist Church, the Dartmouth Area Christian Fellowship and the Lebanon (NH) Assembly of God. Alice and Percy attended the Suncoast Cathedral in St. Petersburg, FL while they wintered there. They were both spiritual parents to a number of Dartmouth students who referred to them as "Mama and Papa Woods."
Percy was named for a cousin of his mother, Percival Bugbee, who was the founder of Oneonta (NY) Normal School, now SUNY Oneonta. Although Percy had qualified for a full tuition to UVM and the school in Oneonta, he went to work after high school to support his aging parents. Marriage and children intervened and Percy never went to college. Nevertheless, he was self-educated and well respected at his position at Dartmouth College. He served as a mentor to a number of Dartmouth students in the Physics Department.
Percy and Alice loved the outdoors and were both avid fishermen and hunters. Percy was an expert with the bow and arrow and once shot a bobcat.
Funeral arrangements will be under the direction of the Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, Vermont. Services will be held at Oak Chapel, Bridgewater Center, Vermont at 2 PM on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. Burial will be in the Baker Hill Cemetery in Bridgewater Center, Vermont. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oak Chapel Restoration Fund, c/o Pastor Gary Parker, P.O. Box 127, Bridgewater, VT 05034.