Timothy Chandler Woods left this world on June 22, 2024, but also left all who knew him with loving memories and a sense of inspiration for our lives based on how he lived his.

He lived his last several years in Durango, Colorado, making new friends on the Animas River Trail during his daily 7-mile walks with his best dog friend, Bronco. He was born on January 23, 1954 in New Hampshire and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his parents, Jean and Robert Woods, and his two younger sisters, Marsha and Kathy. He attended college at Miami University of Ohio and obtained his BA in Public Administration in 1976. After college, he served in AmeriCorps combating poverty before moving west and attending law school at the University of Denver. There, he met the love of his life, Tina Van Bebber (Woods). They graduated law school, passed the bar exam, and got married in 1984. They shared a wonderful, adventure-filled life with two children, William ("Billy"), born in 1984, and Anne ("Annie"), born in 1987. The family moved to Dublin, Ohio in 1988, where Tim worked as counsel for Nationwide Insurance for many years before accepting a VP position at Century Insurance Group in 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona. Tim commuted weekly to Phoenix, Arizona for over a year, coming home every weekend, so Annie could finish high school in Ohio. He and Tina, and their beloved dogs through the years, lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, splitting their time between Durango and Scottsdale from 2014 until 2020, when they moved to Durango full time.

Tim ran over 20 marathons (including the Boston Marathon 5 times), had an eclectic taste in music (and could often be seen rocking out on his air guitar), was a fan of hiking and exploring the mountains and desert, loved sports, coached girls' softball, and attended all his children's events from childhood to adulthood--even the unimportant ones. He loved babies, kids, and dogs. He volunteered for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in Scottsdale and the La Plata County Humane Society in Durango.

Tim Woods made everyone he knew feel special, knew how to bring out the best in people, and cared deeply about the happiness of others. He never cared about getting glory or recognition; he cared about supporting others--being a friend, a dad, a husband, a brother, and a son--and he was able to do so with a calming, constant presence. Even after his diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease when he was only 64, he was still able to enrich people's lives and fought the disease every day to make sure he could still make people feel special and joyful.

Throughout his life, he was a role model and an inspiration for so many in the way he lived his life, but never bragged or demanded anything in return. He created joy and laughter with his quick wit, cheerful disposition, eye-roll-worthy one-liners, contagiously oddball phrases, and hilarious nick-naming affinity.

Losing him to Alzheimer's has been devastating, but he left his loved ones--his wife, kids & their spouses, 3 grandboys, sisters, brothers- and sisters-in-law, extended family, nephews, and many cherished friends--with enough wonderful memories to last many lifetimes.

His family is hosting a celebration of life event in Durango, Colorado at 29th Street Park, aka Memorial Park (corner of 29th St. & 3rd Ave.) at 2 PM on July 3, 2024. Those who wish to walk down to the park on the River Trail (about .7 of a mile) with the family are welcome to meet at 3416 Main Avenue at 1:30 PM. All who would like to honor Tim's life are welcome to attend.

Should you wish to make a donation in memory of Tim, please consider La Plata County Humane Society, the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, or the Alzheimer's Association, or any charity that serves children, animals or nature.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Durango Herald on Jun. 26, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Tim Woods

Sponsored by Hood Mortuary - Durango.

2 Entries

July 17, 2024

In loving memory of a wonderful person. We will love you and miss you always.

Neil Singh

July 1, 2024

This wonderfully written obituary says that Tim "made everyone he knew feel special, knew how to bring out the best in people, and cared deeply about the happiness of others." I can attest to this personally, as one person with whom Tim crossed paths during his legal career. Tim interviewed me for an attorney position at Century Insurance. He gave me a couple of tricky hypotheticals which I guess I handled correctly. But I still remember that interview 16 years ago, and recall how kind and respectful he was. He tried his best to not be intimidating. He was exactly this same way throughout the 3 years I got to work on his team, every time I walked into his office-which was always open to us. He always dropped everything to listen.

It breaks my heart that I didn´t connect with Tim after I left, and that I didn´t realize his condition. But I will leave his loved ones with the funniest memory I have of him: Keeping in mind that he was the highest ranking executive in our Scottsdale office at that time, I had a habit of keeping my office patio door open, outside of which was wilderness. One day I paid for this reckless habit when a really odd-looking and huge desert bird decided to waltz into my office. To my horror, it went right past me and into the office hallway area. As I frantically chased this thing down, my horror level grew even further upon seeing that it headed straight into Tim´s office. But Tim handled this the way anyone who knows him would: He was at his desk, saw an odd bird run toward him with me behind him, and got really confused but was also at the same time highly amused. The look on his face was priceless as he calmly opened his own patio door so the bird could escape safely. We then had a good solid laugh about it for 10 straight minutes. This is how I will always remember Tim. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

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