Clarence Richard Woodbury

Dr. Clarence Richard (Dick) Woodbury, 95, of Carmel, Indiana, passed from this life into the next on Monday, July 28, 2025, at his home, in the presence of his family and with the embrace of the Lord, his Savior.

Dick was born, the oldest of five siblings, on January 29, 1930 in Union City, Ohio to Clarence Sylvester and Zanna Opal (Rines) Woodbury. Due to the employment and financial difficulties of the 1930s, Dick’s family relocated several times between “Vess’” hometown of Union City, Zanna’s hometown of Portland, Indiana and also Detroit, Michigan.

Dick was determined to learn and to work.  At 5 years of age, while in Union City, he refused to go to Kindergarten because he did not want to lie down and take a nap.  “If I was not going to work at a desk and learn, I was not going.”

By the time Dick was entering 7th grade, his family settled for good in Portland.  That year revival services were being held at the Portland Wesleyan Methodist Church and at the age of 13, Dick responded to the call to faith in Jesus.  He was discipled in his church and at home. Dick remained the rest of his life a believer in God’s good news through Jesus.

While in Portland, Dick managed multiple paper routes.  Over the next several years, he worked making clay tile, building silos, making auto steering wheels at Sheller Manufacturing Corporation, at a farm implement company in Ohio and with railroad maintenance crews.

Dick saved his earnings, finished his high school education in Portland and enrolled at Marion College (Indiana Wesleyan University). While there, Dick met Ruth Ellen Friar, his love and partner in life for over 72 years. They married June 14, 1953.

Dick completed his undergraduate studies at Indiana University in 1952 and received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1956.  Dr. Woodbury then trained in the field of Orthopedic Surgery through Northwestern University.

Dick’s medical and surgical training was interrupted to serve in the US Air Force as Captain in the Medical Corps, primarily at the Greenville, MS Air Force base and hospital.

Dr. Woodbury had a very successful and rewarding orthopedic surgical practice in Anderson, IN.  He was certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and admitted as a Fellow to the American College of Surgeons.  He retired from surgical practice in 1989.

Dick dabbled in a variety of activities and generously exposed his three children to many potential interests including: rural living, fishing, hunting, clay target sports, snow skiing, canoeing and traveling.  Dick also had a love for Schnauzers.

Dick and Ruth traveled internationally but their favorite places were their rustic log cabin home in the Canadian woods and their Florida winter home – places they shared warmly with their children and grandchildren.  Walking and reading became favorite pastimes.

Dick enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour, studies about ecosystems, learning the Spanish language, but none more than reading and contemplating God’s Word found in the Bible.   

Dick’s family includes Ruth, his wife of 72 years; three children; son, Richard (Eileen) Woodbury and their children, Alicia (Paul) Bergelin, Brian (Elizabeth) Woodbury, Nathan (Madeleine) Woodbury and Eileen Noel Gibens-Woodbury; son, Philip (Cheryl) Woodbury and their children, Erin (Mark) Tolan, Philip (Amanda) Woodbury and Kristin (Mathew) Quinlan; daughter, Kathryn (Max) Hudspeth and their children, Matthew Hudspeth and Emily (Philip) Jewell; great-grandchildren; Gabriel and Evelyn Bergelin, Josiah, Judah, Jadon and Jonah Tolan, and Elaina “Lainy” Quinlan; and sister, Norma (Woodbury) Hendricks.

Family and friends will gather at 11 am on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at Bussell Family Funerals, 1621 E. Greyhound Pass, Carmel, IN, 46032. At 12 pm a service celebrating the life of Dr. Clarence R. Woodbury will be held for the immediate family officiated by Rev. Mark Tolan. 

Burial will follow in Carmel Cemetery.

In memory of Dr Woodbury, memorial contributions may be directed to the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, Inc, PO Box 3026, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.

Bussell Family Funerals is privileged to assist the family in arrangements.

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