Lanford Woodward

Lanford Hyrum Woodward, age 84, passed away peacefully at his home in Klamath Falls, OR on May 3, 2022.  Lanny was born May 27, 1937 in Frenchtown, MT to Hyrum J. and Dorothy Nuhn Woodward.  His father was a civil engineer for the government, so the family moved frequently while Lanny was growing up.  The family lived in Montana and Southeastern Idaho during his childhood.

Lanny started as a newspaper delivery boy when he was 8 years old and continued delivering papers until he graduated high school.  He worked nine summers on his maternal grandparents’ and uncle’s ranch in Avon, Cache County, UT.  Some of his fondest memories are from his time spent there.

Lanny loved to drive.  He bought his first motorcycle at the age of 12 and his first car at 16.  He frequently updated his vehicles throughout his life.

Lanny has always enjoyed music.  He took piano lessons and learned to play the organ which he enjoyed doing for many years.  He was a member of his high school advanced choir and a select choir called the “Choraleers”.  The choir took first place at Music Festival in Idaho Falls, ID in 1953.

School was an area in which Lanny excelled.  He was Valedictorian of his graduating class at Pocatello High School in 1955.  He was also elected Senior Class President.  After high school, Lanny attended the University of Utah on a Navy ROTC scholarship.  He graduated with honors with a BS in Math.

He began his career as a programmer at Sperry Utah writing flight simulation programs for guided missiles.  He wanted to program the most powerful computers so he joined Control Data Corporation in 1964 and moved to California.  He worked at CDC for more than 28 years.  During several years of his tenure, he was based on Kwajalein, an island located in the Pacific Ocean.

When he returned from Kwajalein in 1977, he met his wife, Jonnie.  They were married February 14, 1980.  In 1988, he joined LSI Logic.  He and Jonnie retired as Directors from LSI.

During their life together, Lanny and Jonnie have enjoyed traveling and playing golf. They have traveled all over the country playing different golf courses.  Lanny was proud to say he golfed more than 200 rounds in one year.

In 2004, Lanny and Jonnie moved from Merced, CA to Klamath Falls, OR where they have enjoyed living on a hillside overlooking farmland that reminds Lanny of Cache Valley, UT.

As health issues limited their ability to play golf and travel over the past several years, Lanny and Jonnie have enjoyed sitting in their side by side recliners watching golf on TV as well as CNN, and Jeopardy.  They have also enjoyed sitting in their recliners reading books.  Lanny has always been an avid reader.  During retirement, he read dozens of books a year.  Lanny continued to enjoy driving them into town along the curves of Lakeshore Drive to enjoy lunch at their favorite restaurants.  The staff at the restaurants became well acquainted with them, warmly greeted them, and knew what their favorite dishes were.  It is something Lanny and Jonnie looked forward to doing.

Lanny is survived by his wife, Jonnie; his six children and two step-children – Margo (Brad) Anderson, Boise, ID; Karen (Mark) Bowen, Albuquerque, NM; Barry Woodward, Taylorsville, UT; Lana (Mike) Youngberg, Henderson, NV; Kirk (Nicole) Brown, Los Gatos, CA; Paige (Jason) Brown, Milpitas, CA; Teri (Olen) Reed, Atwater, CA; and Bob (Donna) Tedrick, Livermore, CA; 18 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren.  He is also survived by his sister, Rhonda Woodward, Salt Lake City, UT.  He is preceded in death by his parents and three siblings, Gwenna Woodward, Myrlene Leavitt, and George Val Woodward.

The family would like to thank all of those who have helped Lanny and Jonnie over the past several years as Lanny’s health declined including family members, neighbors, friends, and church members.  The family would also like to thank the staff at Sky Lakes Medical Center, Plum Ridge Post-Acute Rehab Center, and Klamath Hospice, as well as the caregivers from New Horizons and Jonnie’s daughter, Teri, for the care they have provided Lanny over the past seven months.

A private graveside service will be held on May 21 at the Paradise Cemetery in Cache Valley, UT.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.

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