| Notes |
- Obit: Marnie Woodworth;
helped raise funds to restore Star of India
By Jack Williams
STAFF WRITER
One hundred years after the iron-hulled vessel Star of India was built in Isle of Man, Marnie Woodworth joined two other women in forming an organization in San Diego to support its restoration.
As- the Star of India Auxiliary took shape in 1963, reaching a membership goal of 250 within two weeks, Mrs. Woodworth served as its founding president.
"Marnie inspired people to go beyond their expectations," said Marion Bovee, who joined Mrs. Woodworth and Pearl Reynard in Sunday night potlucks that gave birth to the auxiliary.
Mrs. Woodworth, who was honored in 1986 as a Woman of Dedication for her longtime community service, died Jan. 14 at Sunrise Senior living in Carmel Valley. She was 82.
The cause of death was cancer, said her stepdaughter Pam Halstead.
The Star of India, the world's oldest active sailing ship, had been bought by a group of San Diegans in 1926 and towed to the harbor the following year. Not until the late 1950s, however, did a fund-raising effort start in earnest to restore the vessel's grandeur. With the Star of India Auxiliary providing financial and promotional impetus, the ship was put to sea for the first time in 50 years in 1976.
"What Marnie and her Star of India Auxiliary did back then revived the heart in an old ship that was about to receive its last rites," said Joseph Ditler, former development director of the San Diego Maritime Museum.
"To her dying day, she remained an enthusiastic patron of the Star of India. Without a doubt, her involvement in the Star of India and the Maritime Museum proved to be one of the most valuable and fate-altering roles in the museum's long history."
In addition to organizing fund-raising efforts, Mrs. Woodworth christened the vessel on its 100th birthday, which was celebrated two years after Capt. Kenneth D. Reynard offered to head the Star of India restoration effort.
Mrs. Woodworth, who became an honorary life member of the auxiliary, was exposed to the nautical world by her yachtsman husband, Chauncey "Jim" Woodworth.
After their marriage in 1956,, the Woodworths lived on Mr. Woodworth's 42-foot boat, Leilani, in Coronado. They later settled in the La Playa area of Point Loma.
"Marnie, was always elegant, humble and clearly interest in caring for others," said the Rev. Peter Alexander, a long time friend and her former pastor. "We will always remember her smile that could light up the world and her real love for absolutely everyone around her."
Margaret Brigham "Marnie Woodworth was born in Oakland and raised in San Mateo. She graduated cum laude i 1943 from Stanford University and worked for 12 years as a executive secretary at Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp in San Francisco.
For several years, she joined her father in annual vacations at Hotel del Coronado. It was there that she met her future husband, a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserve, whose family had settled in Coronado in 1921.
"He came up to her table after dinner, when the orchestra was playing, and asked he to dance," Bovee said.
A romance ensued. The marriage, at Stanford Chapel in Palo Alto, was her first and his third, Halstead said.
Mrs. Woodworth began to share her husband's nautical enthusiasm although she had never sailed until her marriage Soon, she joined a close-knit group of Star of India aficionados who gathered aboard the ship for Sunday night parties.
"Marnie was everything woman hoped to be," Bovee said. "She was well-organized, elegant and compassionate and tremendously inspiring to the rest of us in the auxiliary."
Mrs. Woodworth's community service extended to the women's committee of the San Diego Symphony, Globe Guilders, the La Playa Unit of the Children's Hospital Auxiliary and the Forest Home Women' Auxiliary.
She also had been active with her husband in the San Diego Yacht Club.
Mrs. Woodworth was among 13 Women of Dedication honored by the Salvation Army Door of Hope in February 1986.
Her husband died in 1987.
Survivors include stepdaughter, Pamela Halstead of Escondido; stepson, Chauncey C. Woodworth III of Charleston Ore.; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. today at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1376 Felspar St., Pacific Beach. Private inurnment will be at Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Bonita.
Donations are suggested to the Star of India Auxiliary and Forest Home Women's Auxiliary.
Jack Williams: (619) 542-4587;
jack.williams@uniontrib.com
(Published date unknown)
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1921 - 2004 (82 years)
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