Remembering Wilfred Woods, Thoughts from Harriet Bullitt

Wenatchee lost one of its greatest patriarchs over the weekend – Wenatchee World newspaper publisher, philanthropist and outdoorsman Wilfred Woods passed away at the age of 97. He died Saturday due to complications of old age and heart and lung conditions.
Woods was born in 1919, the son of newspaperman Rufus Woods. He grew up amongst the printers, stereotypers and ink of an age of reporting now gone. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in history in 1947.
Over the next almost 50 years he was editor and publisher of the World, started a family that continues to grow and enjoyed the natural beauty and arts culture of North Central Washington. In the 1990s, Woods and his wife Kathy created the Woods House Conservatory of Music. Woods retired in 1997, with his son Rufus inheriting the family business.

KOHO’s Dan Langager talked with Harriet Bullitt, developer and owner of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort and Icicle Broadcasting Inc., about her friendship with Wilfred Woods and his legacy in the Wenatchee Valley.

In 2009, Bullitt interviewed Woods for StoryCorps, the national audio history project. Thanks to Northwest Public Radio for providing an excerpt from that interview.