Michael 'Mike' Woodward

August 18, 2022

Michael "Mike" Woodward, 76, Bonners Ferry, passed away at Boundary County Community Hospital on Monday August 15, 2022. He lost his multiyear struggle with dementia complicated by pneumonia and COVID. A celebration of life for the man who never wanted attention will be at 4 p.m. Saturday August 27, at United Methodist Church, 6568 Lincoln Street, Bonners Ferry. A spaghetti feast and time of sharing will follow.

Mike was born in Spokane to Jim and Delores Woodward and had a younger sister Vicki and two half siblings, Bob and Judy. After graduating from Shadle Park High School he entered Washington State University where he earned a civil engineering degree with honors in 1968.

During his senior year at WSU he met and married Virginia "Gini" Wright. In June they loaded all of their belongings and journeyed to Anacortes, where Mike worked in the engineering department at the Texaco Refinery for four years. Their children Debbie and Jim were born in Anacortes. Not suited to large corporate life, the family moved to Vancouver, Washington, where Mike worked for a land developer designing subdivisions for two years. Eager to raise their children closer to grandparents, they sold their home and bought a house on Pine Street in Sandpoint, looking for opportunities to work and live frugally as was the fantasy of many young families who moved to North Idaho in the 1970s.

Mike supported his family by driving truck, surveying properties, and chopping wood. Working with Alvin Flory, they laid out the foundation for the first modular addition to Valley View in Bonners Ferry. He met Bonners Ferry Mayor Harold Sims, who hired him to work part time for the City of Bonners Ferry, which led to work with the county as well.

His first major project was writing the grant application for the Bonners Ferry Fire Hall and subsequently supervised the construction. The commute from Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry was tiresome and time consuming, so Mike moved his family to Bonners Ferry when he took a full time job with the city in 1977.

He worked for the city until his retirement, making countless contributions to the infrastructure of our town. Always humble, ethical and responsible, his memory will live on in those he served.

Following retirement he continued to work by building and helping others. For several school years as a volunteer Mike supported the BOCO Backpacks weekend food program for kids by picking up a month’s supply of food kits in Sandpoint and delivering the kits to the school in Boundary County.

Mike is survived by his wife, Gini, daughter Debbie, son Jim (Brenda), grandchildren Avery and Anna, sister Vicki Bovin, sister-in laws Barbara Fournier, Liz Stephenson, Bev Kee and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to the Bonners Ferry Backpacks c/o Trinity Lutheran Church 6784 Cody St, Bonners Ferry.