Elmer Woodams

 Volunteer Labor Expanding Old Willow Creek School (in Summer 1951)
The Ithaca Journal, Jul 12 1951, P. 5, Cols. 2-3, with photo

"Willow Creek and Taughannock residents are adding a room and remodeling the schoolhouse by their own labors this Summer.
  Men and boys are doing the job at a series of work bees held every fair evening and every Saturday and Sunday since school closed. Elmer Woodams is in charge of general construction and Herbert Heathwaite is chairman of the building committee.
  The Willow Creek School, one of the oldest in the county and probably in the state, first opened nearly 103 years ago—-in October, 1848. Its centennial was celebrated with a program at which Liberty Hyde Bailey was principal speaker.
  At the annual school meeting in May, residents of Ulysses District 11 voted not to join Trumansburg for the next school year but to add on a room for housing the seventh grade. Up to now, youngsters through the sixth grade have been taught by one teacher in one room. Another teacher will join Miss Marion Evans of Spencer next Fall. Among the teachers there in recent years have been Mrs. Lydia Sears, Mrs. Ruth Holley, and Mrs. Marion Agard.
'The less we have to spend on labor, the less we will have to raise in taxes.' Reasoning this way, residents determined to do the work themselves. A new heating plant and some additional plumbing and wiring are being added, as well as the new room.
  Directors of various phases of the job are Ed Lutz, sanitary engineer; Earl Margeson, heating engineer; Paul Vann, landscaping: Mrs. Barbara Krumhansl, interior decorating, and Heathwaite, plumbing and electricity. Serving with the latter on the building committee are Vann, Lutz, Woodams, and Margeson. The three school trustees are James Armsworthy, Mrs. Krumhansl, and Lutz.
  Willow Creek School is located on the White School Rd. (named for it) just south of Taughannock Falls State Park and about a block north of the boulevard.

Caption for photo: VOLUNTEERS ARE adding a room to Willow Creek School and remodeling the century-old building this Summer. Pictured are (from left) Betty Woodams, Eddie Woodams, Herbert Heathwaite, Luigi Petricola, and Elmer Woodams.

Two Industrial Arts Teachers to Retire
The Ithaca Journal, Jun 24 1961, P. 3, Cols. 2-3, with photos

"Two teachers in the Industrial Arts Department of Ithaca High School, with a combined total of 79 years in Ithaca Public Schools, are retiring this month.
  They are Clarence R. Dixon and Elmer J. Woodams. Both are natives of Rochester, and both attended West High School in Rochester.
  They were outstanding athletes as teenagers.
  Dixon, director of vocational education, has served in the school system for 38 years. He has been director of vocational education and industrial arts since 1930.
  Dixon has taught mechanical drafting, driver education and training and trade extension courses at Ithaca High.
  He served as chairman of the Athletic Council since 1928. He was supervisor of student activities in 1929 and 1930. He was Business Manager of Athleties in 1933 and 1934, and Director of Athletics from 1942 through 1947.
Former Superintendent of Schools Claude L. Kulp, now Coordinator of Education Services at Cornell, says this tribute to Dixon: 'Although he is retiring, (Dixon) Dick is now at the apex of his career. He has recently accomplished life-long goals, namely the building of one of the finest industrial arts programs to be found anywhere, housed in one of the best physical plants in the nation, staffed by an outstanding group of instructors.'
  He attended Ohio Northern University in 1912-13, and received a B.S. degree from the University of Rochester in 1930, and a M.S. degree from Cornell University in 1941. He also attended Buffalo State Teachers College.
  Dixon was a draftsman in a Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C. during World War I.
  He started both the Ithaca Schoolmaster Club and the Industrial Education Teachers Club, southern zone.
  He and his wife, Reta, live at 209 E. Upland Rd. They have a son, Robert, and four grandchildren.

  Woodams has taught wood-working, metalworking, and mechanical drawing in Ithaca schools for 4l years.
  He attended Rochester Institute, and also did work at the University of Rochester and Cornell University.
  Woodams taught in the Frank Gannett Evening School for Boys, or the Boys Evening Home, primarily for newsboys, in Rochester.
  He worked his way through school as a railroad motorman outside of Rochester. He served in the Army in World War I.
  Before coming to Ithaca, Woodams taught briefly in East Orange, N.J., Utica, Rochester Institute, and Savannah, Ga.
  Kulp pointed out an anecdote concering Wodams[sic] at a dinner earlier this week honoring both Woodams and Dixon, namely that Woodams once paddled a canoe around Lake Ontario, a voyage of several hundred miles.
  Kulp's tribute: 'Elmer is a professional in every aspect of the meaning of the word. He devoted all of his occupational life to teaching....
He has been a loyal and altruistic teacher. He has contributed his best efforts to the improvement of the program ... and to the development of high-level skills.' 
  He lives on Trumansburg RD 3. and has two sons, William and Edward, and a daughter, Elizabeth, and five grandchildren."

Obituary for Elmer J. Woodams
The Ithaca Journal, Sep 17 1980, P. 4, Cols. 5-6.

 "TRUMANSBURG - Elmer J. Woodams, 87, of Taughannock Boulevard, R.D. 3, Trumansburg, died Monday, Sept. 15, 1980 at home. He was born in Rochester, June 20, 1893.
  He attended West High School in Rochester and was a graduate of Rochester Mechanics Institute. In his earlier years Mr. Woodams was active in scouting in Ithaca. and for 43 years taught industrial arts at Ithaca High School. He retired in 1963. He helped engineer and remodel the Willow Creek School.
  Mr. Woodams' wife, Lucretia Kintz Woodams, died in 1944.
  He is survived by two sons: William J. Woodams of Jacksonville and Edward E. Woodams of Geneva; a daughter, Elizabeth Woodams Stickane of Trumansburg; five grandchildren, one great-granddaughter; several nephews and nieces, a cousin and a sister-in-law.
  Private services will be held at the convenience of the family with the Rev. Mary H. Brown of Enfield United Methodist Church officiating.
  Burial will be in Lakeview cemetery in Ithaca."

Elmer John Woodams

DoB: 20 Jun 1893
PoB: Rochester, Monroe County, New York
Died: 15 Sep 1980, Trumansburg, Tompkins County, New York
Buried: Lake View Cemetery, Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York