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Biography For Leigh Yawkey

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Author:
Bill Hart

Background:

Leigh Yawkey was born in East Saginaw, MI on August 23, 1888 to Cyrus Carpenter & Alice (Richardson) Yawkey.  When she was an infant, the family moved to Hazelhurst, WI where her father had lumbering interests.  She attended grade school there before the family moved to Wausau, where she graduated from Wausau High School.  She then enrolled at Ogontz School in Philadelphia, PA, graduating in 1908.  

Accomplishments:

On August 15, 1911, Ms. Yawkey was married in the First Universalist Church in Wausau to Aytchmonde P. Woodson.  Together they had four children.

 

Mrs. Woodson was active in many civic, church and charitable organizations and was a member of a number of patriotic and old world societies.  She played a vital role in the development of the Woodson YMCA, and she and her daughter donated the Yawkey Home Museum to the Marathon County Historical Society.  She was a member of the First Universalist Church and was active in the Ladies Aid Society of the congregation.

 

Ms. Woodson was a member of the board of directors of Wausau Memorial Hospital and president of the Atchymonde Woodson Foundation, Inc.  She was a member of the Wisconsin Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, and National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She also served as an officer of the local DAR.  She long held an interest in parks in Wausau and Marathon County, carrying on the work of her father, who was responsible for obtaining the land for Marathon Park and Memorial Park while serving on the park board. 

 

Leigh Yawkey Woodson, at age 74, passed away at her home in Wausau on January 18, 1963. She is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau, WI.  

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Other Information

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Date of Birth: 8-23-1888

Place of Birth: MI

Date of Death: 1-18-1963

Place of Burial: Pine Grove Cemetery Wausau, WI

Race: W

Father's Birthplace: IL

Mother's Birthplace: MI

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