From Memorandum of Events, the memoirs of Eva's father, Dr. Elmer Jeremy Potter:

Quietly things moved along till September 11th 1892 when another permanent visitor came to our home. This time a little lady. We thought as she grew, that we detected traces of comeliness, and a name to call her by occupied our attention for some little time. We at last settled on Eva Dawn, as the name she should be known by. This year was a prosperous one, so far as business and finance was concerned. [Five years later] We packed our goods and chattels and landed in Holgate on the 11th day of Oct. 1897, and began a new venture. We met many hearty welcomes in the churches. In the month of March [1899] our house hold goods, a span of fine horses, a lumber wagon, a surrey and five harnesses were loaded in [railroad] cars, and we left Holgate for our new home on the farm near Newport Mich., my family having gone a few days earlier. For five years we were farmers in every sense of the term. In the spring of 1904 we left the farm and moved to Carleton, a new and comfortable house was built, which we occupied in July. On the 7th of June [1911] our baby girl Eva was married to Leon F. Woodward in our home in Carleton, a brilliant affair.
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From For My Children, the memoirs of Eva's son, Dr. Guy Woodward:

Eva attended grade school for a few years in Ohio before her family moved back to Carleton, where she finished grammar school in a one room school house. She then attended and graduated from the Carleton High School. As high school classmates Leon and Eva became attached to one another. Both were good students, and both were interested in sports and participated in cross-country running and basketball on the teams of their respective sexes. They graduated together on June 23, 1909. [Eva] went to the state Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, where she took teacher training courses and passed the teachers' exams. Eva taught for one year in the little country school at the former Potter farm.
Leon and Eva were married in Carleton on June 7, 1911. The ceremony took place in the big home of the Potter family in the village. Leon was 20 and Eva was 18 at the time. The Potter parents did not favor the marriage, partly because of the young age of their daughter and partly because of the relatively humble and uncultured background of the Woodward family. Nevertheless, youth had its way and the union was accepted.
That fall Leon and Eva moved to Ottawa Lake, a crossroads hamlet a few miles from Carleton, where he had accepted a position in a larger school. Eva thought that she might teach in the same school, but the position did not become available. That December of 1911 brought the death of Eva's father. So at the completion of the school year the couple returned to Carleton, where they stayed in the house with her mother. At some time during this period Leon acquired, and used briefly, a motorcycle and sidecar, which added zest to the lives of the youthful couple and excitement to the community. However, roads being what they were, this form of transportation proved to be both dangerous and impractical, and the vehicle was soon disposed of, to be replaced by the couple's first automobile --a Maxwell touring car.
[In June, 1915] when [Eva's mother] Elva Potter married Moses Cox, Leon and Eva with their new baby [Guy] were no longer needed to keep Elva company, and they lived in rented houses in Carleton until 1917, when they built an "Aladdin House" of their own on Main Street on a lot next door to [Leon's] Grandma Deppen's home.
It was on November 19, 1914 in the big house of Elva Potter that I was born, the first [and only] child of Leon and Eva. It was a premature birth, and there was concern for both the infant and the mother, the latter suffering from the complication colloquially termed "milk leg." Because of the permanent effects of these complications and the probable danger to her, Eva was advised against having another child. However, except for this limitation, Eva's health was quickly regained. The effects on the infant were longer-lived in terms of physical development and general strength during childhood, but were gradually overcome in their more serious aspects.
In 1917 the future seemed promising to the young couple — a new home, a child, a good job, and with the respect of the townsfolk Leon was expected to move into positions of increasing responsibility in the village. But their destiny was to be elsewhere. Eva and her family had been religiously oriented, but Leon's interest was lukewarm at most. When the fire-and-brimstone evangelist, Dave Hill the Lumberjack, came to Carleton for a campaign in one of the churches, Eva and her mother were active supporters and participants. Among other things they joined in a cottage prayer group, and a principal subject of their prayers was the Christian conversion of Leon. He attended some of the evangelist's preaching services, but resisted the appeals, until one day while alone on his mail delivery route he felt an overpowering sense of conviction, and then and there yielded to Christ's call. The public commitment was made in the service that evening. Thenceforth, Leon's life was inextricably bound to the church denomination known as the Evangelical Association. Within a short time his commitment became even deeper as he responded to an unmistakable call to enter the ministry. His first pastorate was at Harper Mission on the corner of Harper and Fisher Avenues in Detroit. The Aladdin house was sold and the Woodwards moved to Detroit on April 18, 1918.
My mother was stricken in the great influenza epidemic at the end of World War I. I have a faint recollection of her lying in bed in the dingy, dark bedroom of the rented flat. Many persons died in the epidemic, but we were fortunate in seeing my mother's recovery.
My parents enjoyed outings and travel. There were the occasional trips back to Carleton, fishing trips, swimming at various lake and river beaches, an excursion boat ride to Bob-Lo, which was an island amusement park in Lake Erie, an all day excursion train trip to Niagara Falls, and a vacation trip a few years later to Niagara Falls in the Model T Ford. I, too, found considerable pleasure in these excursions and outings. Some of these activities were undoubtedly an attempt by my parents to compensate for the rural life that they had left and that they missed. Another mode of compensation was the keeping of cats. Soon after moving into the new parsonage they acquired the first cat. Before long there were three. This was the beginning of a long succession of cats, and except for a possible brief interval following the death of one of the pets, they were never without at least one cat in their home until the time of Dad's retirement.

In the spring of 1924 the farewell sermon was preached and we moved to Marcellus and entered into a completely different kind of life. At that time the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Naperville offered a course that could be completed in two academic years plus one session of summer school, and Leon enrolled in this course. The family lived in small, rented apartments in Naperville during the two school years, driving the 125 miles back to Marcellus on Friday afternoon or evening and returning to Naperville on Monday. While we were in Naperville, Mom took some courses at North Central College (at that time it was Northwestern College, later changed to North Central to avoid confusion with the better known university in nearby Evanston). One course was typing. The others were courses to help her in Christian education work. [In 1928 the bishop assigned Leon to a larger church, and] two weeks later, still confused, the Woodward family were settling in their new home in the parsonage of the Evangelical Church in St. Joe on the shore of lovely Lake Michigan, and were beginning a new chapter in their family life.
[Eva's mother Elva and her second husband] Moses Cox lived in the Lansing Avenue house [in Detroit] until 1928 when she suffered a stroke and was unable to perform her household tasks. Although she recovered her physical and mental functions, a family conference with her daughters found that it was time for her to give up her home and to spend her remaining days in the home of her youngest daughter, my mother. At that time my family was living in St. Joseph, Michigan. While the Coxes moving in with us imposed a heavy burden on my parents, the arrangement of the house minimized the inconvenience. The Coxes occupied a first floor bedroom with an adjoining lavatory. Not long after this Elva suffered another stroke, partially paralyzing her and affecting her mind in a hallucinatory manner. After a partial recovery, another stroke left her completely invalided for a period, at the end of which she lapsed into a coma. Her daughters were summoned, and all were at hand when she passed away on May 7, 1929.
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Further biographical notes by Darrell Brown:

Until her retirement, Eva endured the distress of moving frequently to new towns, parting from old friends and having to make new ones. Eva's father moved the family several times while she was young, and the Michigan conference of the Evangelical Association reassigned its pastors every seven years or so.
Eva lived in the following locations:
Sherwood, Ohio, 1892-97
Holgate, Ohio, 1897-99
Royal Potter homestead, Newport, MI, 1899-1904
Carleton, MI, 1904-18
Detroit, 1918-25
Marcellus, MI, 1925-28
Naperville, IL, 1925-27
St. Joseph, MI, 1928-34
Lansing, 1934-39
Grand Rapids, 1939-48
Dearborn, 1948-52
Monroe, MI, 1952-54
Bradenton, FL, 1954-85
Eva and Leon had one child, Guy, born 1914. In 1932 Guy returned to Naperville to study physics at North Central College, graduating in 1936. He was then granted an assistantship at Michigan State in Lansing, which was where Evan and Leon were living. In 1939, when he graduated from there, Leon and Eva were assigned to Grand Rapids. Guy then studied at Ohio State University, graduating in 1942 with a PhD in physics, and took a job with RCA's laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey. Three years later he married Ruth Errien and began a family.
In the churches where they served, Eva was involved in the ministry of Christian education, including Sunday School classes, women's classes, and vacation Bible schools. Their denomination ran summer camp meetings at different times for adults, for boys, and for girls. When it opened Lakeside Park near Brighton for that purpose, Eva and Leon served on staff from the very first summer, in 1924. When they were transferred to churches in western Michigan, they served at Riverside Park Camp, near Buchanan in Berrien County, where they were involved in teaching and sometimes running the camps.
Eva was musical and sang special numbers at services, but her main gift was poetry. She composed poems for their church bulletins and for periodicals of her denomination, chiefly its magazine for youth, The Evangelical Crusader. In 1947 the name was changed to Builders in 1947, after the Evangelical Church united with the United Brethren to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. (When EUB merged with the Methodist Church in 1968, this publication ceased.)
In 1952 Leon began to decline and was assigned to a smaller church in Monroe. But he continued to decline, and on May 15, 1954, he officially retired, after "36 years of distinguished service," as his bishop expressed it. The Monroe Evening News wrote thus of his retirement:
"The Rev. Leon F. Woodward, pastor of Calvary Evangelical United Brethren Church for the last two years, and Mrs. Woodward will hold their final services here Sunday in worship at 11. Rev. Woodward was granted a leave of absence by his congregation nearly a year ago because of his health and his activities since then have been greatly curtailed. Mrs. Woodward has conducted many of the services and will bring Sunday's message on "The Three Cheers." Rev. Woodward will make brief remarks at the close. Rev. and Mrs. Woodward will be taken by their son, Dr. Guy Woodward of Princeton, N.J. to his home for an indefinite stay. Present plans call for a Florida location eventually."
Their son Guy helped them pack up and move to his home in Princeton. Then on June 17, 1954, the two Woodward families traveled two days together by train to Tampa, Florida, then on to Bradenton. On Monday the 21st they bought a "Great Lakes" mobile home and acquired space C-52 for it at Bradenton Trailer Park (now Cortez Park). Guy and his family stayed in the area for a while before returning. But Leon continued to decline, and he passed away on August 3, 1955.
After the death of her husband Leon, Eva continued to live her mobile home in Bradenton and was active in the church. Every summer she traveled by train to visit her son Guy and his family in Princeton. When she got elderly, her son and his family would drive down to Florida in the summer to visit her. In later years she developed angina, as had her father before her, and she died on November 1, 1985, in Suncoast Manor Nursing Home.
Eva's church denomination had not allowed much of a speaking role for women, and its periodicals carried messages written by male preachers. But this restriction did not apply to poetry and hymns, and this was Eva's gift. She self-published two collections of poems for her friends, about 180 poems in all: Through My Windows (Dec., 1940) and Beside My Door (1974). The editor of The Evangelical Messenger immediately published one of her poems, The Traveler's Path, before even asking her, devoting the whole back cover to it. He praised the booklet in a subsequent editorial. Several more poems were published in her denomination's youth magazine, The Evangelical Crusader (later called Builders). Eventually Eva wrote over three thousand poems, and well over a hundred of them were published in periodicals of her denomination, perhaps two hundred.
When the Michigan Conference of her denomination planned its one hundredth annual conference in Michigan in May, 1961, they invited members to compose a hymn to celebrate the occasion. The judges chose Eva's submissions as "head and shoulders" above the rest. She subsequently flew from Florida to attend the conference, where her hymn, The Church Eternal, was repeatedly sung during the various times of worship.
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The Church Eternal, a Centennial Hymn, by Eva D. Woodward, March 12, 1961
Tune: The Son of God Goes Forth to War

Courageous men have found the cross
In service through the years
To be their guide in gain or loss,
Supreme in joy or tears.
Down through the corridors of time
The cross would guide the way
Of foll'wers in their upward climb
Who dared the Christ obey.

The Church blest by the Lord of love
While he was on this earth
Has had the blessing from above
And proved its lasting worth.
With vision clear the Church has seen
The needs in lands afar,
And to the seeking it has been
A bright and shining star.

Upon the Rock the Church was built,
The Rock was Christ, the Lord.
'Twas for the world his blood was spilt
According to God's Word.
Though things through years have passed away,
And others proven vain,
The cross upheld will guide each day
And the Church and Christ remain.

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Auto-biographical poems
Eva did not leave behind a memoir of her life, but several of her poems recount people, places, and events in her life. The selections below recount events, in chronological order. (Poems about her mother, father, and paternal grandmother are posted in their memorials.)
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Abridgement of Through My Windows, by Eva Woodward, in which she reminisces about her childhood days in the Royal Potter homestead:

I Iook through my windows down Memory Lane
And the home of my childhood I see once again.
The rambling old farmhouse; the creek 'neath the hill.
And the rugged old bridge I can vision there still.
The scent of the lilacs and evergreen trees,
The bush of syringa attracting the bees.
The orchards so fragrant with blossoms in Spring
Great bins of fine Baldwins and brown Russets did bring,
Northern Spies and Greenings and Sweet apples too,
The old cellar was full the long winter through.
The road to the brick school my memory traced
Where we tramped through the snow often deep as our waist.
Our favorite game, fox and geese, in the snow
Remind me of playmates of the years long ago.
Though I cannot go back I can still sing their praise,
As I look through my windows to dear childhood days.
***********
(Her sister Lillian wrote to her saying, "Thank you dear for your book of poems. I did so enjoy reading them and I read them all to Aunt Mattie. I could picture the old home and tears came to my eyes." Eva also wrote a humorous poem about a childhood fishing experience with her parents, and this can be found on her father's memorial.)
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My Wedding Day Prayer, by Eva Woodward

A glorious blue sky, the air so sweet and warm,
By open window now I kneel to pray;
The month is lovely June—there's joy within my heart,
At last has come our happy wedding day.
The music of the birds finds echo in my heart,
My lips and heart toward God I lift in prayer,
I ask His blessing on the years which lie ahead,
I seek His kind protection and His care.
I ask for courage as life's trials come along,
And pray I may have wisdom for each test,
O may I always have a sympathetic heart,
And give our married life its very best.
I'm asking that I'll always be a loving pal,
A gay and understanding kind of friend,
And learn the art of sharing laughter every day,
And thus the broken dreams of life to mend.
But first and most of all, dear God, please guide our
path,
And make our home a blessed place to stay,
O may we be as happy in the years to come
As we are now upon our wedding day
***********
That Smile, in which Eva rejoices in her baby:
His hair, like silk, is shiny,
And velvety his skin,
His cheeks so pink and lovely,
And a dimple in his chin.
His eyes are clear and steady
In his own sweet baby style,
But what sets my heart a-thumping
Is his toothless baby smile.
*************
A Mother's Prayer, in which Eva ponders her new duties as a mother:

Dear Lord, Thou gavest me a little son,
My heart so long has prayed for such a one,
My arms have ached to hold his little form
And now that he is here new dreams are born.
I look into that baby face and say
A "thank you," God, for him day after day,
Those hands are very tiny; yet they hold
More wealth than all the silver and the gold
Of this old world. I look into his face
And there methinks that I can faintly trace
The smile his father gives so tenderly
Whenever, in his love, he smiles at me.
Dear God, oh can he be my very own,
Or did he come from there beside the throne?
There's Heaven in his eyes of blue sublime,
And yet I know that baby now is mine.
I know that I will have a duty great
In guiding him through years to man's estate,
If I can help him choose the right and best
And then, with courage, stand through every test,
Be faithful, courteous, loving, fine and strong,
And choose the right companions all along,
To think clean thoughts; keep mind and body pure,
I know that I will need thy guidance sure.
Dear God, I feel so very weak today,
And that is why I look to thee and say
"Help me his joys and sorrows gladly share."
Please hear and answer this, my daily prayer.
**************
An abridgement of The Minister's Wife, in which Eva reflects on her lifestyle:

With children to watch and home to keep,
And sometimes losing hours of sleep,
The cleaning to do and clothes to mend,
So many tasks on her depend —
Who is there leads a busier life
Than the faithful, thoughtful minister's wife?
And now someone coming to the door,
She knows it will take a moment more
Than she feels she scarcely dares to spend
From the tasks that never seem to end,
These homely duties that are so rife
To the ever busy minister's wife.
Back at work — a neighbor drops in,
Her heart is breaking because of sin,
Her home is broken, her baby ill —
Can no word be spoken her grief to still?
She prays for wisdom — grief cuts like a knife
This timid, God-fearing minister's wife.
An agent is next to step inside,
He says that he must not be denied
A talk with the pastor, who upstairs,
Is safe in his study from all these cares.
She must decide — should she give the call?
This minister's wife in the parsonage hall.
And then when the week begins anew
She's always found in her regular pew.
With a face as calm as a summer sea
She greets the people so cordially.
Does any one have a busier life
Than the faithful, tender minister's wife?
***********
A Sunday-School Teacher's Prayer, in which Eva expresses the goals of her teaching ministry:
Let me be faithful in sowing the seed,
Let me show others their personal need.
May I pray often for each of my class,
May they see Jesus whose love will surpass.
Help me to tell them of Christ and His love,
Point them to heaven, the home up above.
Then when the sowing of seed is complete.
Someone the sheaves may lay at His feet
May I rejoice over souls that are won,
Knowing my part in God's work was well done,
***********
An abridgement of Moving Day, in which Eva Woodward expresses the sorrow of having leave friends every few years to move to a different church in another town:

The pictures are down and the walls are quite bare,
The fruit is in crates and in barrels everywhere,
The rugs are all rolled—the books out of their case,
I wipe off a smudge of dirt from my face,
It's moving day here at the parsonage.
The last meal is done, the dishes are wrapped,
Suitcases are full and now have been strapped,
The van soon will come—there's a tear in my eye,
For the routine I've lived I can't help but sigh,
It's moving day here at the parsonage.
The windows so empty, with curtains all down,
Tell me over and over I'm leaving this town,
I'm leaving the friends I have loved thro the years—
A lump's in my throat and my eyes fill with tears,
It's moving day here at the parsonage.
Though my heart may be sad and today I feel blue,
I know my new home will have loving friends, too,
So with peace in my heart and Jesus as Friend
I'll follow the light and on Him depend
When it's moving day here at the parsonage.
*****************
A Mother's Ideal, 1940, in which Eva considers the progress of her 25-year-old son:

He may not be a six-foot-two
But if he's strong of limb,
And clear of eye and clean of mind,
With carriage straight and trim,
If he, with judgment firm and sound
Will place problems side by side,
And choose the right, the good, the kind,
I shall be satisfied.
*****************
A fiftieth birthday poem from Eva to her son Guy in 1964, reflecting on his fifty years of life:

'Twas fifty years ago last March
To your father dear and me,
There came a great and fond desire
To have a family.
And so the weeks and months went by
Until a month too soon
A precious baby came to us
On a day before the noon.
We loved that gift God gave to us;
That son of ours fast grew
Until in June of "Thirty-six"
North Central days were through.
Post graduate work and honors came,
And later years we heard
As parents of an honored one
A doctorate conferred.
A fine position, home and joy
Through every passing year
Increased my pride for you, and I
Was glad for your career.
Now fifty years—oh can It be?
Mature you are, dear Guy;
In all your ways acknowledge God
And on His strength, rely.
*****************
An abridgement of Twilight, in which Eva reflects on the end of life:

Walking in the twilight of a busy life,
Done are plans and worries, labors, cares and strife.
Clouds of gray and purple, mixed with evening blue,
Grow more lovely when the setting sun shines through.
Facing toward the westward down the golden way
Lifts the heart to higher plane; helps to praise and pray.
Eyes are fixed on Heaven, calmness fills the breast,
Lovely twilight shadows bring sweet peace and rest.
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Get Well Cards, March 9, 1985, in which Eva thanks members of Emmanuel UMC during her terminal illness:
In that stack of get well cards
The verses and the flowers
Have cheered my heart and brought me joy
Through my shut-in hours.
I had not thought so many friends
Would know I was away,
And now I thank you for your love;
It cheers me day by day.
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My Halo, written just before Eva died, and published posthumously November 7, 1985, in Emmanuel UMC Newsletter:
Place a halo around my life, Lord,
Not just above my head;
May it glow while I am living
and not wait until I am dead.
May my halo be attractive
so that other folk will know
That it represents your presence
in it's beautiful clear glow.
May my halo be a witness
that your Spirit dwells within,
so my influence may help others
leave their darkened paths of sin.
yes, dear Lord, please place a halo
round my body, o'er my head,
May I glow while I am living
and not wait until I'm dead.
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Eulogy by Rev. Gilbert Dieffenwierth, published November 7, 1985, in Emmanuel UMC Newsletter:
Eva D. Woodward was a noble woman, a fine Christian, beloved and respected by all who knew her. She carried sunshine and happiness into the hearts of all who came into her presence. We do not give her up even though on November 1 she left us for her heavenly home. Her influence will abide with us and inspire us until we shall join her in our Father's house.
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In 2014, 29 years after Eva's death, Pastor Gayla Grimes-Harbolt of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Bradenton wrote that Eva is still remembered by long-time members of the church. One said she remembered Eva very well and with great fondness as a sweet, quiet, godly lady.