Geneva Woods, a retired teacher from Pike County, knew she was in poor health, but she had one last mission before she died Tuesday.
Woods spearheaded an effort to get students from the 1969 senior class at the all black Pike County Consolidated High School receive their diplomas after the school district's superintendent withheld the diplomas because of a student walkout to protest what they believed were discriminatory education policies. The students received their diplomas at a commencement ceremony last month.
Woods, 84, passed away due to complications from liver cancer, said her daughter, Stacey Mangham. Woods taught for about 40 years, nearly all of them in Pike County, located about 50 miles south of Atlanta. Woods, the district’s 1984 Teacher of the Year, retired in 1996.
“It is my sincere hope that in my own little way, I have made a big contribution to the field of education and a great and positive impact on the lives of some five thousand or so more individuals, and by my efforts they shall be able to grow as I have grown,” Woods wrote in her retirement letter.
Here’s the schedule of services for Woods:
- Sun., April 8, 4 p.m. - memorial service at the Pike County Auditorium, 7218 Highway 19 South, Zebulon.
- Mon., April 9, 6 p.m. - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Ivy Beyond The Wall ceremony at Mt. Hope Baptist Church, 12 Griffin St., Zebulon.
- Mon., April 9, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. - viewing at Mt. Hope.
- Tue, April 10, 12 p.m. - funeral service at Mt. Hope.
