Past DG Dave Woods Believed in “Service Above Self”
 
Dave Woods, past president of the Rotary Club of Woodland Hills (1980 – 1981) and past District Governor of Rotary District 5260 (1990 – 1991), passed away on May 27.  He had a lifelong passion and commitment to be involved with projects benefiting children in our community and abroad.
 
Dave was born on Sept. 8, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1946 he enlisted in the Navy’s V5 program and while in the Navy he attended Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. After he was discharged from active service, he returned to graduate in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration.
 
In June 1950 Dave married his college sweetheart, Ruth, who preceded him in death. They had five children, three sons and two daughters, and 10 grandchildren.
  
Dave joined Rotary in 1965 and was an active member of his club including serving as president. He was on the District staff as a DG representative and he chaired many Avenues of Service. Dave was elected DG in 1990 and one of his goals was to promote district-wide world community service projects through the use of Rotary Foundation matching funds.
 
David's motto for his term as DG was "Let's get the job done." He found it was amazing what one man could accomplish when he didn’t care who received the credit. Let believed in joining together in "SERVICE ABOVE SELF."
 
During Dave's tenure as DG, he led the way in raising more than $72,000, locally, as well as securing a RI matching grant of $100,000 to build 20 small dams at an estimated cost of $6,000 each in Mexico. An additional $30,000 RI grant was awarded to build a potable water system in Tecapulo, Mexico, a village of 3,500.
 
Dave's professional career encompassed managing a retail TV and appliance store, wholesale housewares sales, major appliance distributor sales counseling, and factory representative for General Electric Television and Audio Products Division and for 27 years he was the owner-operator of a general real estate brokerage business in Woodland Hills.