Effie Carrie Mitchell Woods

Effie Carrie Mitchell Woods of Selmer died in her sleep at Brookdale Jackson Oaks assisted living facility in Jackson on July 17, 2018. Mrs. Woods was 93 years old. She was born in the Mt. Gilead community in McNairy County, Tennessee on October 24, 1924 to Marshall Bryan and Effie Jane Henson Mitchell. She graduated from Selmer High School in May of 1942 and married William Hugh Woods of the Curtis Hill community on August 4 of that same year.

Mrs. Woods was baptized at the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church at an early age and kept her membership there her whole life, teaching Sunday School into her 90's. She was actively involved in multiple civic and charitable organizations throughout her adult life including the Order of the Eastern Star of which she was a Past Worthy Matron and the American Legion Auxiliary for which she served as President. She was a member of both the Quinco Mental Health and McNairy County Developmental Services Boards of Directors for many years. It was her involvement in politics, though, that gave her particular enjoyment. In 1972, she became the first woman ever elected to the McNairy County Court, serving her county and the 4th District as a Magistrate/Commissioner for over twenty years and was elected President of the Tennessee Magistrates Association in 1978. She was a long-time member of the Tennessee Massage Licensure Board. In 1984, she attended the Republican National Convention as an alternate Reagan delegate and in 1994, in recognition of her many years of service, was named the Statesman of the Year from the Seventh Congressional District by the Tennessee Republican Party.

Mrs. Woods lived a long, full and rich life, setting an example for others with her faith, perseverance, initiative, and gumption, but mostly with her love. She will be missed by many, especially her children, for whom she was a river of affection, admonition, biscuits on Saturday mornings, and dressing on Thanksgivings.

She was preceded in death by her husband William Hugh Woods, Sr., grandchild Anna Kathryn Smith and great-grandchild Anna Suzanne Campbell. She is survived by her brother John Mitchell and wife Coy, her sister Ann Mitchell Robbins, her children Carol Ann Woods, Jane Woods Smith and husband Brown, William Hugh Woods, Jr., M.D. and wife Elaine Green, M.D., John Bryan Woods, M.D. and wife Mary Kaye, her grandchildren Christine Ann Brinkerhoff, William Woods Brinkerhoff, Sarah Smith Nielsen and husband Chris, Carrie Brown Campbell and husband Nick, William Parker Woods and wife Phylinda Ramsey, Samuel Green Woods, John Henry Hugh Woods, Lydia Ruth Woods, Mary Helen Woods, and her great-grandchildren Eva Grace Nielsen, Brown Nielsen, Smith Kathryn Campbell, Sarah Wray Campbell, Peyton Campbell and Carrie Ann Diener.

Memorials may be made to the Mt. Gilead Cemetery Fund or Heaven's Cradle, West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, 620 Skyline Dr., Jackson, TN 38305.
www.wth.org