Paul Rayworth Woodley
November 10, 1953 ~ March 17, 2021
DANVERS- Paul Rayworth Woodley, 67, passed away in his home surrounded by his family on March 17, 2021. He was the loving husband of Victoria (Bojarski) Woodley with whom he shared 45 years of marriage.
Born in Alexandria, Virginia on November 10, 1953, he was the son of the late Clifford and Lillian (Rayworth) Woodley. He was raised and educated in Westport, CT and also Richmond, VA. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He served his country as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was honorably discharged. Paul moved his family to Danvers in 1999. He had been a communicant at Saint Richard Parish in Danvers and part of their RCIA team. Paul also volunteered as a mentor at Danvers High School, Swampscott High School and Lynn Vocational School and was a part of the FIRST organization. He was a member of the Masonic Temple, Essex Lodge in Salem and had served as their chaplain. Paul had been employed as an engineer for over twenty years at General Electric in Lynn.
In addition to his wife, Victoria, he is survived by his son, Thomas Woodley of Danvers and his granddaughter, Julianna. He was predeceased by his brother, John C. Woodley.
His visitation will be held from 5-7PM on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at C.R. Lyons & Sons, Funeral Directors, 28 Elm St., Danvers. Attendees are kindly asked to wear facial coverings and practice social distancing. All other services are private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Paul’s name to Shriner’s Hospital for Children.
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I have so many fun memories of Paul when we were younger and his family would drive up to our grandparents house for the 2 weeks in the summer. Paul & I would play Indian
games and jump off the porch to “Geronimo!” His Dad would take us to the Falls where we went on almost every single attraction like The Maid of the Mist, Under the Canadian Falls, The American Falls, The Garden Clock. Paul was extremely intelligent. He had a fascination with clocks, repairing them, building them. He even built a tesla coil and it was in his house!!!! After he married Vicky, my Mom, my daughter Michelle & I would drive up from Canada to visit them.They always made us feel so welcome. My daughter remembers Paul letting her drive the tractor. I remember he bought an Army Jeep and fixed it up, took us for a drive through Michigan. When he was in the hospital waiting for the heart transplant, he called me once a week. I loved that. I will remember all our memories of family times together. RIP Paul, you will be missed. Love Nancy Hansford.
Paul visiting in the pit area of Whittier Tech
My deepest condolences to Vicky and family. I have only fond memories of Paul; from trains and tractors to boats and clocks; his talents were endless and his knowledge very extensive. Sending much love to the family. RIP Paul. Love Michelle xoxo
Having Paul as a friend and brother is one of the best things in my life. He was always living. He taught me so much about life and being human that enriched the lives of my entire family. I am grieved by the loss to us all with his passing. His intellect saw much more in problems than other could. Seeing the long term ramifications that seemingly simple issues could ultimately cause to a larger enterprise. He saw the depth of problems and fought hard to fully solve them properly. The depth of his knowledge, understanding and memory of the history behind issues was a marvel.
Paul I will miss you, but you are still with me. I can hear you now in my head as we talked about important and not so important issues in the world. Thank you to both you and Vicky for your perpetual impact on my life and humanity.
Paul helped form the Lynn Tech FIRST robotics team in 2006. At that time, he worked as an electrical engineer at the General Electric power plant in Lynn. Paul was among several GE engineers who volunteered to help found the team. He quickly became a dedicated teammate who was always willing to give an extraordinary amount of time and effort to produce a competitive machine, and help with the student’s academic and technical development. For many years, the team met for a minimum of thirty-two hours a week. Paul would not only be there for every one of those hours, but he would also spend additional time at home experimenting or doing research for the team. As a matter of fact, he was pivotal in the team’s immediate success, and helped us win the Rookie of the Year award in 2006. This honor, which is given to an outstanding first year team at each regional event, allowed the team to compete in the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia.
Another example of Paul’s selflessness occurred many years later when the Swampscott High team was without an adult to mentor the team. Although Paul had continued to work with the Lynn team, he graciously volunteered to step up and manage the Swampscott team as well. Once again, his influence produced outstanding results, and that team improved to the point where they won a regional championship in 2019. Consequently, they went on to participant in the national event in St. Louis. All of the aforementioned accomplishments of both the Lynn and Swampscott teams would not have been possible without Paul.
One of the great things about the FIRST organization is that the management recognizes great team mentors such as Paul. Each season the students on every team nominate one of their mentors for a prestigious award named for one of the founders of FIRST, Woody Flowers. This is an honor given to only one of the mentors at each of the regional championship events, someone who best exemplifies the FIRST credo. Paul was selected to be a finalist for this award by the selection committee at the 2012 Boston regional championship. There was definitely no other mentor at that regional competition who deserved it more than he did.
Paul was a great mentor, teacher, and friend to everyone he came into contact with. We will all miss him and all of the great things he brought to the world.
Bob Beaton and Chris Speropolous
Team 1761
Paul was a great help forming the First program at St Mary’s High School. His hard work was helpful but possible more important was his attitude and willingness to share of himself. I know I will miss him.
Mike McCormack
Mentor with Paul on First
Father of Aislinn and Hannah, whom he inspired.
Great tribute to Paul, God Bless.
Sincere condolences to Paul’s family and friends. Paul was a great guy and a pleasure to work with. I worked with Paul at GE and Paul was an excellent engineer but more important a good man who was a pleasure to be around.
Paul will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.
Sincerely, Rick Matthias
A wonderful video of Paul’s life with Vicky, Thomas & Julianna. The so many projects he took on and helped so many young minds to grow. An awesome man. Loved watching
this. RIP Paul. I will miss you. Love Nancy Hansford.
Condolences from the TJ band folks. God Bless
Bob Hawthorne TJCC band 66
Thank you. Paul had such fond memories of growing up in Richmond and all his friends there.
Vicky Woodley
I went to high school with Paul. He was a good friend. I went on in life and adopted 2 children from Honduras that were burned in house fires. They both have been cared for by Shriners’ Burn Hospital in Boston. What a wonderful tribute to Paul for mentioning Shriners in lieu of flowers. They do great things!