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Joseph M. Woods

Joseph Milton Woods, 92, of Fort Wayne, IN, and a native of Huntington, IN, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, at the Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home, Fort Wayne.

Mr. Woods graduated from Huntington College and Manchester College, earning a Bachelor of Science in music education. He received a Master of Music in piano performance from Columbia University, New York, in 1950 and a educational specialist degree from Ball State University in 1978. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945, achieving the rank of staff sergeant and becoming an Army Air Corps Band director.

He was the music director at Central Catholic High School, Fort Wayne, from 1946 to 1972 and was band director from 1972 to 1980 at Bishop Dwenger High School, Fort Wayne, where he also served as assistant principal and dean of students. After retiring from education, he worked as a Realtor with Oak Hill Realty.

He was a member of the viola section of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic from 1948 to 1950. He was a musician in several area Catholic churches, including the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne. He was a lifetime member of American Federation of Musicians Local 58, founder and director of the Fort Wayne Summer Symphony and a lifetime member and three-time president of the Fort Wayne Downtown Optimist Club.

He was born June 8, 1920, in Huntington to Harry M. and Bertha Becker Woods. He married Betty Zane Gallagher on Aug. 26, 1946, and she survives.

Additional survivors include three sons, Milton (Audrey) Woods, Michael (Julie) Woods and Timothy (Jennifer) Woods; four daughters, Jeanne (Larry) Clark, Mary (Steve) Ditlinger, Karla (Jim) Lamley and Anne (Tim) Kennedy; a brother, Marcus Woods; a sister, Mary Margaret Wagner; 23 grandchildren; and one great-grandchildren.

Calling is Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., with recitation of the rosary at 7:30 p.m., at D.O. McComb Funeral Home, 1140 Lake Ave., Fort Wayne. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, at 10 a.m., with calling one hour prior to the Mass, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 1122 S. Calhoun St., Fort Wayne. Msgr. Robert Schulte will officiate.

Preferred memorials are gifts to the Woods family.