Mabel A. Woodyard

Services for Mabel A. Woodyard, 87, Phoenix, will be Friday at Adams Funeral Chapel in Charleston, Ill.Miss Woodyard died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, at Arizona Grand in Phoenix. She was born Aug. 28, 1921, in Coles County, Ill., the daughter of Lincoln and Iva Hanna Woodyard. Miss Woodyard worked for the Office of Defense Transportation in Indianapolis during World War II. She began a long-term commitment as executive secretary and assistant to Nina Pulliam, wife and partner of Eugene Pulliam, editor and publisher of the Indianapolis Star and Arizona Republic & Gazette in 1950. She was an active bridge player, golfer and patron of the arts.Survivors include a sister, Ruth and husband Orville, Washington, Ill.; two brothers, Thomas, Riverton, Wyo., and George and wife Eleanor, Lawrence, Kan.; a sister-in-law, Florence Woodyard, Charleston, Ill.; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Dorothy; and four brothers, Charles, James, Harold and Lincoln Jr. The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at A. L. Moore Grimshaw Bethany Chapel in Phoenix.