Obituary of Patrick J Woods

Patrick J Woods (Rick), 73, passed away April 7, 2016. He was born October 5th, 1942 in Hoboken, NJ. After graduating Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, NJ, he attended the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College where he graduated with a B. S. in Nuclear Science. While at SUNY, summers were spent on the high seas, where learning in ship operations continued as it sailed to various European ports. It was probably here that Rick's interest in traveling was born. Upon graduation from SUNY, Rick was offered a commission in the navy, but elected to serve in the Naval Reserve so he could pursue both his graduate studies and Alicia (who later became his wife and had 3 children ). After graduating from Penn State with a MS in Nuclear Engineering in 1966, Rick went to work for General Electric Company in San Jose, California in the commercial nuclear power industry. In his 15 years with GE, Rick did design and analysis, startup testing, and operations for nuclear power plants, and ultimately Manager of the Nuclear Service, Sales, Installation, and Service Engineering Division. While at GE, Rick completed his MBA at Santa Clara University. In 1981, Rick joined Quadrex Corporation in Campbell California where he managed the Technical Services and the Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Departments. In later years, as a partner in R&B Software and Services, Rick provided customized software applications and consulting support to Electric Power Research Institute and other commercial nuclear engineering firms. From California, Rick headed to Richland, Washington, where he was a program manager for MACTEC, Inc, providing consultant support to the Department of Energy and Bechtel Hanford, Inc. In 1997 he went to work directly for Bechtel as a Project Manager for environmental remediation activities at the Hanford site. It was in Richland where he met his future wife Vicky, and married in 2000. By 2004, when Rick and Vicky finished working, traveling beckoned and off they went. By 2015, they'd visited many of the countries of Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania, and a few in Africa. But the sunny skies and lifestyle of Arizona beckoned, and in 2011, they moved to Quail Creek in the Green Valley area where they have lived for the last 5 years. While in Richland, Rick was an active member of Rotary, and a member of Christ's Hands (serving members of the Central United Methodist Church and the community at large.) Rick also served the community with the Pima County Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers, the Green Valley Fire Corp, and served on the Quail Creek Finance Committee. Rick is predeceased by his first wife Alica, and his sister Jofran. Rick is survived by his wife Vicky (Green Valley); his three children - Derrick Woods (Valley Springs, CA); Christine Woods Munoz (Pittsfield, NH); Daniel Woods (OR); grandsons Felix and Evan Munoz (NH); brothers Barry Woods (Dumont, NJ) and Chris Woods (Green Valley), and his sister Debbie Charlton (Shamong, NJ). A memorial service will be held on at 3 PM on Saturday, April 9th, at Avalon Chapel, 8090 N Northern Avenue.