John I. Woodward, 73, of Lancaster passed away on Saturday, January 10, 2026, after a fourteen-month battle with cancer. He died peacefully in his sleep at Hospice and Community Care in Mount Joy. Born in Coatesville, John was the son of Robert I. Woodward and his wife Daisy Lou Woodward, of Lancaster, both deceased. John and his beloved wife, Genna, were married for 32 years. John was a devoted husband and father.

A 1970 graduate of Manheim Township High School, John was very active during his high school years and was very popular. He was on the rifle team, rifle Club, Key Club, and soliloquy Club. He was also part of the marching band playing the baritone sax and was an officer on the student council. John was also an actor in the Senior play and won the Manheim Township Poetry Contest Award. John was also part of Boy Scout Troop 102 where he earned his Life Badge and was working toward his Eagle Badge when he left scouting. John's friends have always called him "Woody."

John was a lover of the great outdoors and camping. He loved hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail and canoeing and kayaking in the Adirondacks and Finger Lake islands. He loved fishing, history, traveling overseas, music, reading, and singing.

John went on to earn his bachelor's degree in English at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster in 1975. John was also a journalist for the Lancaster Independent Press. After working for Harper and Rowe as a college textbook salesman, John embarked on a career selling residential real estate with Concept 100. Later, when Concept 100 merged with Coldwell Banker Slaugh Cooper, he met Genna. After they married, John worked in the bindery and plate room at R.R. Donnelley. He also drove a cab for the Friendly Taxi Company to supplement their income. During this time, he studied at Eastern Mennonite University in Lancaster and earned his master's equivalency in Special Education and was then employed by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 in York County until he retired. After retirement, he continued his teaching career as an adjunct professor at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster.

John is survived by his wife, Genna M. Woodward, of Lancaster, his son, John B. Woodward of Philadelphia, his sister, Carol Woodward Carrell and her husband, Raymond Carrell, of Houston, Texas, his brother Robert S. Woodward and his wife Linda, of Lititz, and nieces Rachel Carrell, of Austin, Texas, Emily Keough and her husband Sean Keough, of Lancaster, and their sons Conor and Miles, and nephew Dr. Sam Carrell and his husband Dr. Austin Faulk, of Houston, Texas.

Funeral services will be held at Congregation Shaarai Shomayim, 75 E. James Street, Lancaster, PA, 17602 on January 13, 2026. Friends will be received in the synagogue from 10:00 – 10:45 AM before the service at 11:00 AM. Interment will be in the Shaarai Shomayim Cemetery on Liberty Street in Lancaster.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John's memory to the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association or the Gilat Zicharon fund at Congregation Shaarai Shomayim.