7/7/1943 – 12/11/2016
David T. Woods, known to most of his Brown County friends as “Dave,” was born on July 7, 1943, in Battle Creek, Michigan. A talented musician, Dave was the drummer with a band during his high school years before graduating from North Muskegon High School in 1961. Dave, also a natural athlete, chose to attend University of Michigan on a tennis scholarship while his band went on to become the group known as Del Shannon which recorded the Top 40 hit “Runaway.”
After law school at Indiana University, Dave started his law career with the personal injury and criminal law firm of Jones and Loveall in Franklin, Indiana. There he learned the practical trial skills that law schools don’t teach. In 1972, the Indiana State Legislature split the Brown-Johnson judicial circuit and created Brown Circuit Court. Governor Edgar Whitcomb appointed Dave to the new bench on Feb. 22, 1972. The appointment was only temporary; Dave ran for election in the fall of 1972 and was elected in a contested race with the late Richard Speelmon.
Judge Woods served a full six-year term as Brown County’s first elected circuit court judge. Always an avid outdoorsman, Dave took to the Brown County lifestyle with gusto. He loved to hunt with his beloved Labrador dogs. He helped form the local Ducks Unlimited chapter and became a serious golfer. When he left the bench in 1978 he established a private law practice and served as one of the county’s public defenders, zealously protecting the rights of the accused.
Dave was a long-term car buff, owning a Corvette and first-generation Ford Bronco over the years, as well as many other interesting rides. He turned that interest into a third career when he joined the Skillman auto group. He quickly rose from salesman to finance manager and worked in that position for several years, commuting from his rustic log home on Country Club Road to his offices in Greenwood. Just for fun, he picked up a real estate license and sold Brown County homes for Hills O’ Brown Realty.
Dave returned to public service in 2011 when he became the director for the Area Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. In that capacity, he administered the county and town land-use ordinances in the same even-handed way that he administered justice from the bench. David Taylor Woods retired from the plan director job in 2016 and moved to his home in Lakeland, Florida.
After a fierce battle with cancer, he died on Dec. 11, 2016.
He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Nancy (Clephane) Woods; his son, Todd (Kelly) Ashman; daughters, Lisa Euwer, Kim Ann Hamilton, Chris (David) Sullivan, Kim Sue (Mark) Toth, Jodi Gaydusek and Wendi (Bryan) Gore; his mother, Beverly Woods; a sister, Julie (Lloyd) Leonard; and a brother, Robbie (Linda) Woods; 16 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; as well as many nieces and nephews.
There will be a celebration of Dave’ s life from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27 at The Seasons Conference Center.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his name to Brown County Humane Society, P.O. Box 746, Nashville, IN 47448 or online at bchumane.org/donate.
