Selina Woods Obituary

WINCHESTER, MA - Selina Jo (Pendergrass) Woods of Winchester, MA passed away on July 29, 2023 after dealing with a long series of health problems. She really loved people and would respond with help to anyone's need. She had an exceptional ability to strike up a conversation with anyone she met and to develop deep bonds. She loved plants and flowers and a series of cats. She was an avid reader and encouraged everyone to read to their children. She was born in Knoxville, TN on April 3, 1942 to Harry F. Pendergrass and Josephine (Davidson) Pendergrass. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University where she met her husband, William A. Woods. In 1964, they were married and moved to Cambridge, MA where she worked as Assistant to the Registrar of the Harvard University Summer school while her husband attended graduate school. Subsequently she earned a Master's degree in Education from Boston University and taught as a school librarian in Belmont, Lexington, and Lynnfield, MA. She excelled in this role until she was hampered by a brain tumor operation that left her partially blind and prone to seizures. Nevertheless, she was a person who didn't let things stop her, so she used her considerable research skills to find a specialist who taught her how to cope effectively with her visual limitations. Selina loved and was active in the Parish of Epiphany church in Winchester, where she sang in the choir and started and maintained the church library for many years. She played the flute in a flute trio and in the Lexington Bicentennial Band. She is survived by her husband Dr. William A. Woods, her sister Jean Ellen Pendergrass, her son Matthew Woods and his wife Tricia Woods in Massachusetts, her son Dr. Alexander Woods and his wife Dr. Tamara Woods in Wisconsin, and numerous cousins in the US and in England. She leaves two sisters-in-law, Pamela Ford and Linaka Groller, and has three grandchildren.

The funeral will be Friday, August 11, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester. A Committal service in the Memorial Garden will take place immediately after the service, which will be followed by a light reception. All are warmly invited and should feel free to wear masks if they so desire. Memorials may be given in her memory to the Parish of the Epiphany, 70 Church Street, Winchester, MA 01890, the Northeast Animal Shelter, 347 Highland Ave., Salem, MA 01970, or the Greater Boston Food Bank, 70 South Bay Avenue, Boston, MA 02118. Arrangements by Costello Funeral Home of Winchester, MA. www.costellofuneralhome.com