Marlene DeYoung Woods

Marlene DeYoung Woods, age 83, entered the Church Triumphant on Friday, June 19, from Martha Franks Retirement Community in Laurens, SC. Born at home on Shands Street in Clinton, SC, on October 25, 1942, she was the daughter of Marvin and Gay DeYoung, whom she loved and cared for as she did for everyone else—selflessly and completely.

Marlene’s love language was acts of service—which benefited so many, including the local boy who attended college thanks to her encouragement (and a little string-pulling), the kids for whom she quietly and anonymously bought Christmas gifts, the two non-relative elderly women for whom she cared (chauffeur, bookkeeper, and medical concierge) simply because it was the right thing to do, and all those who received one of her homemade caramel or red velvet cakes.

She saved the best love and acts of service for her family—daily calls and texts; all the cards (birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Easter, and just-because to tell us she loved us); paying/helping pay for all the things (law school, cars, houses, etc.); and legendary Sunday lunches (fried chicken strips, casseroles (pineapple and green bean were perennial favorites), and desserts sure to require a nap).

After graduating salutatorian from Clinton High School in 1960, she started and then stopped college “for love” and before and after, worked as a bank teller at M.S. Bailey & Son, Bankers (she could still balance a checkbook into her 70’s) before having children (she “aways wanted to be a mama”), after which she stayed home for several years. When she went back to work, she was a church financial secretary. In 1986, she went back to Presbyterian College, getting her degree (and eventually her master’s degree and 30-hours-over certification), and taught at Joanna-Woodson Elementary School the rest of her career.

She was predeceased by Dan Cox Woods, her husband of 53 years (which was longer than some sentences for committing murder, she used to joke) and by her older brother Thomas M. DeYoung (Elinor). She is survived by her children, Stephen Woods (husband Kevin Lancaster) and Marsha Woods; grandchildren, Hannah Marie King Honeycutt and Preston Woods Lancaster; and great grand-children, Mason Daniel Honeycutt, Mailee Jade Baker, and Madelynne Grace Woods. She loved all of them, in ways special and unique to each.

Marlene also loved her students, coupons, and a bargain—and had a pantry stocked with enough food to survive a natural disaster, which she happily shared with anyone who accepted her frequent invitations to share a meal. Other favorites included summer evening talks in the garden at Nanny and Papa’s house; cheering loudly at tennis tournaments; doing 100+ tax returns every year as her side hustle; sending sympathy cards; telling you the great things her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren had done or said; spending time and catching up with neighbors and her teacher-friends (lots of retiree lunches, birthday celebrations, and just-because gatherings); late-night phone conversations “to solve all the world’s problems,” she would say; going back to college in her 40s and baking for her college classmates (and graduating cum laude); sharing the joy and fascination of science experiments with anyone and everyone (“Have you ever heard of the Electric Pickle experiment?”); her Sunday School class; grocery-shopping at Ingles (multiple times a day); re-connecting in recent years with her high school boyfriend; advocating for Whitten Center clients and staff on the Parents’ Council; keeping meticulous First Baptist Clinton records and minutes; watching a student’s face light up when they understood a new concept or lesson; and reading online obituaries (“to be sure I’m not on there,” she would joke—which she wasn’t, until today).

The family is very grateful to Ginger Eaton (who cared for Marlene lovingly, compassionately, fiercely, and tirelessly) and the Martha Franks, Caris Healthcare, and Presbyterian Communities-Clinton nurses, CNAs, PAs, administrators, and staff (who cared for and loved Marlene and her stories, even when they no longer made much sense).

A funeral service (“not too long,” Marlene would say) will be held on Tuesday, June 23, at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 301 S. Broad Street; Clinton, SC with Dr. Blake Harwell officiating. The family will receive friends and family on Monday, June 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Gray Funeral Home; 504 E. Carolina Ave; Clinton, SC 29325, and for those unable to attend then, immediately after the funeral. We promise not to tell stories that make Marlene sound so saintly “that we hardly recognize the person they were describing in the eulogy” (as Marlene sometimes would say after a funeral). Family members are at their respective homes.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to First Baptist Clinton (https://clintonfbc.us/), the Whitten Center Parents’ Club (https://www.whittencenterfriends.org/take-action), or a charity of your choice (to keep doing good, as Marlene often said about memorials). Following her lead and in her memory, we invite you to do something loving or kind for someone else. The best legacy for Marlene’s countless acts of love and kindness is to continue them forward.

Condolences may be expressed to the family online by visiting www.grayfuneralhome.com.

Gray Funeral Home of Clinton is assisting the Woods family with services.