Joseph A. Woods Jr.

Joseph A. Woods, Jr.

Joseph A. Woods, Jr. died at home in Piedmont, California on July 15, 2013. He was 88 years old.

He is survived by his wife Virginia, children Calvin Woods and Joanne Woods Schnell, son-in-law Paul Schnell, and grandchildren Samantha and Sophie Schnell.

A native of Decatur, Alabama, Joe attended Piedmont High School, the University of California, Berkeley, and the law school at UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall. He began practicing law in 1949 and retired as a partner of Donahue Gallagher Woods in Oakland, where he remained of counsel. During World War II, Joe served as a naval officer in the Pacific.

He was for many years a member of the Board of Directors of Lucky Stores and, in 1974, served as Associate Special Counsel to the House of Representatives Committee of the Judiciary in its inquiry respecting the possible impeachment of Richard Nixon.

He was a member of the Northern California Steering Committees of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, and the National Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. He was a past president of the Alameda County Bar Association, and represented Alameda County in the ABA House of Delegates from 1982 to 1990. Since 1983 Joe had been a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, of which he was the Chair in 1997, and served as a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors from 1995 until his death.

He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and the Claremont Country Club.

At Joe's request, all funeral arrangements were private. His family thanks his caregivers, who made the last few years of his life so much more comfortable, and suggests that those wishing to honor Joe's memory consider a gift to the American Bar Foundation at 750 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611.