A Memory of RSW by   Arnold Purinton

It was some time in the 1940s and I was probably 6 or 7 years old. I had put together with a couple chunks of wood, a board connecting the two together with a head on one end and tail on the other, supposing to be a saddle horse.

I ran to the kitchen door and announced to my mother that "Ole Man Woodard" had just been driven in the yard by my older brother Mark driving the big old gray Packard ----"Mr. Woodard" in the passenger seat. My voice was within easy hearing distance of him and when brother Mark went by me, if looks could kill, I would have been dead a long time ago. Needless to say Mom heard me also, and after they left I got a real scolding, and that evening another from my Dad. I believe I learned my first lesson in respect that day.

As the story continues, a few hours later the big old gray Packard was back in our driveway and Mr. W. called me over to the car. I am not sure, but I believe I apologized to him for what I had called him.

To my surprise he handed me a box and when I opened it, inside was a Roy Rogers cowboy outfit complete with cowboy hat, chaps, shirt and 2 cap pistols with holsters.

I believe that when I called him "Ole Man Woodard" that I had hurt his feelings and he wanted me to like him. Believe me, after that gift I loved him.

I had a paper route a few years later and every Christmas his nurse whose name I believe was Miss Phipps, through Mr. W. would tip me 50 cents--big money in those days.

Up until recent years, brother Mark and wife Barbara, brother Josh and wife Betty and my wife Judy celebrated New Years Eve in Mr. Woodward's studio, the old fireplace sparkling and the white candles glowing. I always sat in Mr. Woodward's wheelchair and my very favorite photo is of Mark on one side, Josh on the other, with me in the wheelchair. And I believe we were toasting ROBERT STRONG WOODWARD who had long since passed on.

Arnold Purinton
2010

Addendum: Arnold Purinton passed in December 2025 and we have updated this page in his honor. But as I am doing this, I feel so much regret for not ever having asked him if he had other memories of Woodward. The story above is humorous and was intended to be... but we have tried, when the opportunity presented itself, to questioned people who had actually met the artist in person questions about Woodward,  such as,  how would

you describe his voice. One woman, as a young bribe was gifted a painting by Woodward as a wedding gift, and told us so much about Woodward's agility and speed by which he got around in his wheelchair. Or that he personally tended to her fetching canvases back and forth until she made her choice. The past three years of Arnold's life we saw him quite often and would visit with him to show him all the new paintings we were finding. He would get so excited and he loved to talk about Woodward. There was a point when I realized that Arnold probably loved Woodward every bit as much as his brother Mark. He will be missed...

Original Version: August 2010
Updated: Feb. 01, 2026
Picture captions added by: BCM