Jan Karen Woods
August 23, 1955
December 6, 2023
Jan Karen Woods, 68, of Salado, TX passed away on December 6, 2023 surrounded by her family.
Jan was born August 23, 1955 in El Dorado, AR to Dorothy Shirey and the late A.J. Shirey. “Jan Karen Shirey!” That’s how her parents would call after her as she cart-wheeled down the sidewalks in her hometown, El Dorado, Arkansas. This curly headed little thing could be a whirl. She weighed 29 pounds in the 1st grade, but everyone learned big surprises can be found in small packages.
She was no shrinking violet then or anytime in her life. A voracious reader with a fantastic memory, Jan would let you know where she stood on any issue- whether you agreed with her or not.
As a child, Jan was very talented. She learned to play the piano by rote as well as taking many lessons from Mrs. Kinard. She played the flute in the EHS marching band where she made tons of friends.
Jan and her brother Gregg were the closest in age and so had a special connection in their childhood. They made many memories including her helping him climb a tree to catch a raccoon one night.
Knowing her brother’s love of all things wild, she generously gave Gregg a notable pet – a baby skunk that she had found. A lover of animals herself, and particularly dogs, she managed to talk her mother into allowing her to have the first Chihuahua to live in the house (a more amazing feat since FiFi slept in her bed to help with her asthma)!
When they were teenagers, Jan and Gregg took their parents’ popup camper to Florida to go to Disney World. When they got to the campground, the management told them they could not stay because they were not married. When Jan and Gregg protested that they were siblings, the campground managers said they had heard that story before! So, they turned around and drove right back to El Dorado without seeing Disney or spending the night anywhere. Times have changed since 1973!
Jan Brewer was a career medical technologist, first with King’s Daughters Hospital and later with the VA Hospital in Temple, TX. She was a teacher of men, raising three successful boys through adolescence and young adulthood as a single, working mother with Multiple Sclerosis. As her sons grew up and got into trouble and mischief, Jan would be their most ardent defenders while keeping them involved in the church, boy scouts, music, sports and academic tutoring. Her relentless illness was matched only by her unwavering grit and determination, and the example she would set helped inspire and galvanize her sons as well as the broader community. While continuing to work full time both as a mother and a VA employee, she went back to school and received a Master of Science from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Her motto was always “keep moving forward, we make our own luck.”
In 2007, with Dr. Bryan Woods, luck would indeed strike. Both Dr. Woods and Jan were both nearing the ends of their VA careers and started a budding friendship and romance that blossomed into timeless love. They were married on November 27th, 2009 in Temple, TX where they remained inseparable in their devotion to one another, the closest of friends and confidants until her passing. Jan would call Bryan her “angel”, and their love made believers of angels out of everyone who knew them. With Dr. Woods by her side, Jan found eternal happiness and joy, rising above a life often filled with struggles, and set-backs. She was a devout believer in Christ and the church. She’s no doubt back to cart-wheeling with her heavenly Father above.
Jan is survived by her husband, Bryan Woods; mother, Dorothy Shirey; three sons, Ryan (Lindsey), Kyle (Randee), and Paul; two grandchildren, Ava and Luca; and three siblings, Tom (Robyn) Shirey, Gregg (Lisa) Shirey, and Tonya (Rob) Lambert. She was preceded in death by her father, A.J. Shirey.
Services in the care of Broecker Funeral Home of Salado were held December 16, 2023 at St. Stephen Catholic Church of Salado. Please sign the guestbook: broeckerfuneralhome.com.
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