Our History
Our history begins in 1903, when O. R. Woodyard Sr. one of ten children of a Methodist minister, growing up in the rural setting of Waterford, Ohio decided after the death of a sibling to pursue a career in the mortuary profession.
After obtaining his education, Mr. Woodyard became a licensed funeral director and established his first funeral home at 1346 S. High St. In 1944 Mr. Woodyard opened a second location downtown at 255 E. State St. Mr. Woodyard's son, O. R. (Jim) Woodyard Jr. joined the business in 1950 and after 10 years of working with his father opened a 3rd funeral home at 2300 E. Livingston Ave.
In 1985 the Woodyard family opened the 4th location at 2990 Bethel Road and a 3rd generation of funeral service started when Dean A. Woodyard became an officer and funeral director along with another key director Gary L. Drake - Woodyard.
For the last 20 years they and their staff have strived to carry on the heritage of service O. R. Woodyard started. In 2005, the company acquired Myers Funeral Home in Groveport, Ohio. Jerry Myers the previous owner had provided services to the Groveport community for over 60 years at a fair price.
This is what our goal has been and that is why we felt Myers Funeral Home would fit so well into our family. In 2008, after attending Capital Law School, the fourth generation, Devin Woodyard entered the business with a renewed desire to provide services to uniquely honor every family we serve.
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Dean A. Woodyard President
Dean A. Woodyard has been serving the Columbus community for over 40 years as a funeral director, embalmer, consultant, and preplanning specialist. He is the third generation of the Woodyard family to be part of the funeral profession. Dean’s beginnings first start by his arrival at Grant Hospital, being the son of O. R. “Jim” Woodyard Jr. and his wife, Sally A. Stout Woodyard. Dean’s parents and grandparents played a major role in his formative years and piqued his interest in the profession. His parents opened a new location in Bexley, Ohio 1960 where the family lived and operated the funeral home. Those were days before public emergency ambulances were available and funeral home operations included 24 hour ambulette service. Dean graduated from Bexley High School, Class of 1971. He pursued his college requirements thru The Ohio State University and then Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science graduating in 1974. Dean also strived for other training such as Iowa's College eye training so to be able to help others with Donation and Sight Program. He has enjoyed learning how to further help families thru continued education at Ohio Funeral Directors Association and National Funeral Directors Association. He was also active with leadership at The Central Ohio Funeral Director Assocation. Dean is also currently the President for the Board of Trustee's at Glen Rest Cemetery. Longtime member of the Athletic Club of Columbus, BLYC, and Disciples of Christ Christian Church. While the funeral profession can be very demanding on ones time, he has noted how much the appreciation of those we serve means to him. Dean met Jill A. Wood, who was a wonderful partner and wife in 1980. They raised a family and their son, Devin R. Woodyard, is now serving the community as the forth generation of the Woodyard family. He enjoys the outdoors, skiing, whitewater rafting, boating among other things.
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Gary Drake-Woodyard Treasurer
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Devin R Woodyard Vice President
After graduating from Bexley High School, Devin attended and graduated magna cum laude from the The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business with three specializations. He then attained a law degree from Capital University Law School where he graduated Suma Cum Laude. He joined O. R. Woodyard Co. Funeral and Cremation Service full time in 2008 as the fourth generation. In 2010 he took on a new objective to expand the services provided by O. R. Woodyard Co. to pet owners. In October of 2010 he debut Woodyard Pet Services. In 2011 Devin attained his Certified Pre-planning Consultant certification to provide expertise and professionalism to assist families in the process of advance planning. Devin lives in Upper Arlington with his wife, Lauren and their three daughters, Lilly, Reece, and Elody as well as their golden retriever, Stella.
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Michael T. Lyme Funeral Director
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Scott A. Guth Funeral Director
Scott was born and raised in the Hilliard community, and ids a part of the 3rd generation of his family to live there. He's a 2003 graduate of Hilliard Darby High School and Columbus State Community College where he earned his Associate of Arts Degree. During that time he was very active in the Hillard Darby Drumline, Marching Band, and Symphonic Choir. He attended The Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science where he graduated top of his class in 2004. He served his apprenticeship and worked for a total of 5 years with the Tidd Funeral Home. He has been working for the Woodyard family for more than 10 years.
Scott has been married to his wife Christine since 2006. He has two daughters, named Amanda and Samantha and is expecting a son in early 2020. He continues to live on the west side of Columbus, near his hometown of Hilliard. They are members of the Grove City Church of the Nazarene.
Scott enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his family. He especially enjoys camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking and trap shooting. He is an active member of the Central Ohio Anglers and Hunters Club in West Jefferson, Ohio. The family also enjoys spending time together participating the Cub Scouts with Amanda. Both Christine and Scott help as her den leader, and hope very much Mandy and the rest of their children will continue the family legacy of attaining the rank of Eagle. The family also has the goal of traveling to every Major League Baseball as a family. So far they've been to 11 of the 30.
Scott takes great satisfaction from his work as a funeral director and embalmer. Having a role in making some of the worst days of someone's life a little easier to deal with is always his goal when helping families through a loss. It's his chosen profession, and he hopes to serve for may years to come. -
Peggy Robinson Office Assistant
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Jarrett Wilson Advance Planning Director
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Natalie Hrcek Funeral Director
