Lydia Woodland

WOODLAND, Lydia

1927 – 2021

 

Lydia Woodland passed away peacefully in the Red Deer Hospital after a short but intense battle with Covid on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.

Lydia was born in Eastern Russia near Blagavaschensk, on 23 October, 1927 to Henry and Katerina Michelson. In January, 1929, fleeing religious persecution, the family left Russia, crossing the frozen Amur River into China by horse-drawn sleigh. They were eventually granted refuge in the USA, where her father farmed on the outskirts of Lodi, California.

Following high school, Lydia attended the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) and while there met John Woodland, and after graduating from BIOLA they were married in October, 1949. At the time John and Lydia were preparing for long-term missionary service in India, but visa issues, combined with health concerns prevented them from realizing that goal. Instead, John became a teacher, while Lydia was a full-time mom to their growing family, which soon came to include 4 children.

In 1964 the Woodland family moved to Canada and settled in Abbotsford, BC, and John began a teaching position at the newly founded Trinity Junior College (now Trinity Western University), in Langley, BC, where he served as a faculty member for more than 20 years.

Following John’s death in 2001, Lydia stayed in Abbotsford for several years, then in 2006 moved to the Golden Hills Lodge in Three Hills, AB to be near her son Andy and his family, where she lived until early 2021, when she followed them in a further move to Red Deer.

She is lovingly remembered by daughters, Rebecca (Chuck) of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Mary (Jake) of Abbotsford, BC; sons, Daniel (Mercedes) of Trujillo, Peru, and Andrew (Eleanor) of Red Deer, AB; 8 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

Lydia was pre-deceased by her parents, Henry and Katerina Michelson, 7 siblings who died in infancy, her sisters, Elizabeth, Rosie, and Katie, all of California, a great-grandson, Josias Balzer of Abbotsford, BC, and her loving husband of 51+ years, John.

A Celebration of Lydia’s Life is planned for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, 20 November, 2021 at the Prairie Tabernacle Congregation, in Three Hills, AB.

For those who wish, donations in memory of Lydia can be sent to the John E. Woodland Memorial Scholarship Fund of Trinity Western University, https://www.twu.ca/donate-now.