Forrest Cale "Butch" Woods Obituary (1943 - 2018)

Forrest Cale "Butch" Woods, Jr., 74, of Odell, IL passed away on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at Evenglow Inn, Pontiac, IL, after a long and courageous battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. A celebration of Butch's life will be held at the Dwight United Methodist Church at 10am on Tuesday, May 1, followed by a graveside service at McDowell Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 7pm Monday, April 30, at Hager Memorial Home, Dwight, which is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made to the Evenglow Inn, Vitas or Cure PSP. Butch was born on September 1, 1943, in Bloomington, IL. He was the son of Forrest C. Woods Sr., and Helen (Flint) Woods. He married Ruth A. Kirby on November 21, 1962, in Farmer City, IL. Butch was a loving husband to his wife, Ruth and a caring father to his children, Carson Woods of Los Angeles, CA and Kirby (Kris) Woods, of Washington, IL, and a proud grandfather to Grant and Kate Woods. Butch was preceded in death by his parents along with his brother Jack Woods and sister Jill Flanagan. Butch graduated from Le Roy High School in 1961 and moved to Dwight, IL in 1965 where he launched a fifty-year career in farming. Butch lived by the work hard play hard attitude. He loved the farm life and became a leader in agriculture serving as a board member with both the Livingston County Farm Bureau and Evergreen FS. When Butch wasn't tending to hogs or working the fields, he was competing at a high level in an array of sports. He played competitive fastpitch softball for over a decade with the Bloomington Hearts (and GMC Trucks) as a catcher and was enshrined into the Illinois USSSA Hall of Fame in 2004. He was an avid trapshooter and life member of the Amateur Trapshooting Association. He also earned his pilot's license and enjoyed bowling, auto racing and snowmobiling.