OAKLAND — Throughout her life, Montclair resident Anne Woodell embodied the value of community service.

For sure, Woodell got involved in many organizations and activities. These included the Hillside Gardeners of Montclair, Oakland Women’s Rowing Club and the Alameda County Historical Society. A founding member of the Oakland Arts Council, Woodell is best known for her work with the Oakland Parks and Recreation, particularly as a founder of Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation.

Dubbed the “mother” of Oakland Parks and Recreation by some, the “first lady” of the same by others, and as the “savior” of such local institutions as the Oakland Municipal Band on yet another website, Woodell died Jan. 25. She was 80.

Woodell’s death comes little more than six months after that of former Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation board president Barry Weiss, who died July 2 at 67.

In addition to her long and energetic involvement, those who knew Woodell recalled her as both friend and mentor to many.

“I (first) met Anne through the California Parks and Recreation Society, where she had a role of teaching professionals how to lobby on Capitol Hill, create advisory boards and hold commissions accountable,” said Audree Jones-Taylor, who recently retired as director of Oakland Parks and Recreation and had known Woodell for more than 30 years. “Our friendship, her guidance and mentorship started for me when I worked in Southern California as a center director, then becoming a senior supervisor and onward to a superintendent in Recreation and Parks.”

Born Margaret Anne Morrow to Jon and Dorothy Morrow of Ann Arbor, Michigan on Nov. 5, 1936, Woodell’s call to community service began at an early age while growing up in Ann Arbor.

A 1954 graduate of Ann Arbor High School, Woodell proved indispensable in helping organize future class reunions. Staying close to home, Woodell went on to the University of Michigan, from which she graduated in 1958 and where she became actively involved in the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She maintained ties to the sorority for the rest of her life.

After marrying Bill Woodell in July 1959, the couple moved to California, eventually settled in Montclair and raised two sons.

Anne Woodell went to work in 1961 for the UC Berkeley student housing office, serving until the birth of her son, Tom, in 1963.

Fully embracing her role as a parent, Woodell became involved in her sons’ education at Montclair and Thornhill elementary schools, Zion Lutheran Church and Zion Lutheran School and Bishop O’Dowd High School.

By 1966, Woodell also had become heavily involved in both local and national politics, and in 1974, then-Mayor John Reading appointed her as the second woman ever to serve as a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission. She ultimately served that body for 27 years, 20 years as chairwoman.

Woodell’s service to the parks inspired her to begin the Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation in 1981 with the aim of renovating facilities and developing new parks. She also served as a longtime board member of the Oakland Parks Coalition, which merged with the Friends in early 2015 to form the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation.

In addition to these, Woodell served on the board of trustees for both Children’s Fairyland and the Dunsmuir House and Gardens, as well as on the Oakland Municipal Band Committee.

Other organizations with Woodell’s imprint included the Oakland Museum Landscape Council, Oakland-East Bay Garden Center, City Stables Advisory Council, Metropolitan Equestrian Preservation Society and the Oakland Public Schools Budget Advisory Committee.

In terms of honors, the New Oakland Committee named Woodell its Citizen of the Year in 2009 and Oakland Parks and Recreation awarded her as Mother of the Year in 2009. And in January 2016, the Oakland Garden Club dedicated a statue and plaque in her honor.

“Anne Woodell was not only a fierce advocate for the parks, bands, arts, and gardens of Oakland, but for the people of Oakland,” read an online obituary.

I’ve never met a more fierce and knowledgeable advocate for Oakland’s parks and park programs,” Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation board president John Bliss said in a statement appearing on the organization’s website.

“Anne Woodell will be forever loved and missed,” Jones-Taylor said. “She is right up there in terms of my professional female mentors that have left an imprint on my life.”

In addition to husband Bill, Woodell’s survivors include sons Tom (Jeanine) of Santa Clara and John (Kirsten) of Menlo Park; three grandchildren Bruce, Erin, Claire and Liam; and two brothers, Thomas Morrow of Ann Arbor and John Morrow of Sherwood, Wisconsin.

Woodell’s family asks that those wishing to make gifts in her memory send checks to the UCSF Foundation, Attn: HemOncFellows, P.O. Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145.

Checks should be made payable to the “UCSF Foundation” with “B3201-HemOnc Fellows” written on the memo line and a note indicating that the gift is in memory of Anne Woodell.

Gifts also can be made online at http://makeagift.ucsf.edu/cancer. Click on the “Direct your gift to a specific area” link. From there, click on “Other” and enter “B3201-HemOnc Fellows” in the box.

The Parks and Recreation Foundation also has set up the Anne Woodell Memorial Fund at the request of some of her friends. A donation link can be found at Oaklandparks.org.

Donors also can mail checks to the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation/Anne Woodell Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 13267, Oakland, CA 94661.

In addition, the Oakland Municipal Band has dedicated its upcoming season to Woodell’s memory.

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ETC: Services for Woodell will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont.

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