Bernard Lee Woods, known to everyone as Ben Woods, passed away September 28, 2017 at the VA Health Care System in Fargo, ND.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Myers Funeral Home, Linton.   Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, November 9, 2017 at United Methodist Church in Linton with burial of cremains to follow at 3 p.m. Thursday, November 9, 2017 at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND.

Ben was born January 1, 1946, in Bismarck, ND to Carl and Ellen (Coordes) Woods. (He was named Bernard, in honor of his uncle, Bernard Coordes, who was killed in WWII in 1945, and buried in Normandy, France.)

Ben moved to Linton with his family at the age of two, and was proud to call Emmons County his home most of his life.

He graduated from Linton High School in 1964. When he got "caught in the draft," he spent the next two years in the US Army. He was in the MP (Military Police) Company in Fort Lewis, Washington. He wore the MP uniform, but worked as a clerk/typist in the stockade. He apologized to his mom about having to tell her friends that "her brave young soldier type son is spending the rest of his Army time in the stockade"... He attained the rank of Sp 5 (E5).

After receiving an honorable discharge from the Army, he returned to North Dakota where he went to work for O'Leary and Stotco Highline Construction. Later, he worked for Unruh Construction, and then he went to work for Interstate Engineering.

Ben was a great story-teller, loved to hunt and fish, was a fun-loving uncle, and loved to cook, eat, and discuss food-related topics. He loved all babies and small children. He asked that memorials be donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital ("because those kids need a chance!")

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Glenn and Birdie Woods and Martin and Mollie Coordes; his parents, Carl and Ellen Woods; two sisters, Ellen Jane Woods and Judy (Woods) Marquardt; and one brother, Bill Woods (Judy Rice).

Grateful to have been part of Ben's life, are his sister, Carol (Philip) Humann, brother-in-law, Lew (Dona) Marquardt, nieces, Kathy, née Marquardt (Bob) Weil, Janeen née Humann, (Paul) Cervinski; five nephews, Mark (Nan) Marquardt, Dave (Anne) Marquardt, Steve (Misty) Marquardt, Greg (Stephanie) Marquardt, and Kyle (Kim) Humann; grandnieces and grandnephews, Beth Weil, Tom, Will, Linden, Anna, Paula, and Sophie Marquardt, Philip (Mary) and Claire Cervinski, Carter and Caleb Humann; uncle and aunts, Bob and Marion Woods and Bese née Woods Kautz, one great-grandniece, Elsie Cervinski and many, many friends.