Hester Lee Woodard

Hester Lee Bellafant Woodard, age 85, resident of Columbia, passed away Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at her residence.

A home going celebration will be held on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 2PM at Heritage Funeral Home with Bishop James Glenn Duke officiating. Burial will follow in the Garden of Freedom in Maury Memorial Gardens where she will be laid to rest alongside her late husband, Harold Woodard who preceded her in death. A visitation will be held on Thursday, May 22, 2025, from 4:00 - 7:00 PM at the funeral home.

Born on April 22, 1940, in Maury County, Hester was the daughter of the late William Thomas Bellafant and the late Grace Wilkins Bellafant. She was a 1958 graduate of Carver Smith High School and a devoted military wife, who worked primarily as a homemaker as she traveled and lived in and out the country as an Army wife. She is preceded in death by her sweetheart of 58 years Sgt. Harold Nathaniel Woodard and beloved son Harold Shean Woodard.

She was a long-standing member of Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church where she joined in 1970 under the leadership of Reverend J.C. Wray and was an active member until her illness. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who spent her years devoting her time to her family. She took exceptional care of her husband during his illness and final years. She enjoyed staying in contact and socializing with her classmates, attending the Maury County Senior Center, watching her great-granddaughters Tave and Adriel perform at cheer events, listening to her grandson Tay sing, being a listening ear with words of comfort and advice to many who looked at her as a motherly figure in their lives, tending to her garden flowers and plants to name a few. She was so loved and will be missed by many.

She leaves behind to cherish her precious memories her two daughters: Rose Marie (Darryl) Robinson of Chula Vista, CA, devoted daughter Aneita Denise Woodard of Franklin, TN; grandchildren: Shanekwa (Gregory) Pruitt of Chula Vista, CA, Tomeka Moore of Murfreesboro, TN, LaToya (Clint) Crawford of Chino, California; Tanesha (Eric) Walker of Columbia, TN; Darryl Robinson, Jr. of Long Beach, CA, Matavius Woodard of Columbia, TN, Nigel Woodard of Columbia, TN; great grandchildren: Antavea Collins, Adriel Watkins, Noah Kelley, Elaysia Walker, Cameron Pruitt, Aria Otey, Ni’Ana Woodard; God-Granddaughter Latoria Lee of Franklin, TN Godson: Johnny Warfield of Columbia, TN; Brothers: James Bellafant and devoted brother Walter Bellafant both of Columbia, TN; Brother-in-Law James Ervin Woodard as well as other relatives and devoted friends. She was also preceded in death by her sisters, Wilniter Bellafant and Judie Bellafant Williams and great-grandson Jackson Pruitt.