The Woodwards' Homecoming

Originally published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram July 5, 2009
Story by David Casstevens, Photo by Ron T. Ennis

Note: This story is being reproduced here at Morgan's request, to allow the fans to share in this wonderful story of his return to his restored childhood home. No copyright infringement is intended.

ARLINGTON — Dick and Cathy Thomas opened the stained-glass door of their 19th-century home.

Four elderly men stood on the front porch.

For them this moment was the highlight of a long-planned weekend reunion.

The brothers — one living in Albuquerque, one in Tulsa, the others in California — had come home, back to 400 E. First St., to the creamy-yellow two-story house their grandfather built. There Valin, Morgan, Lewis and Lee Woodward grew up during the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.

The Thomases recently restored the country Victorian residence to its original grandeur and charm.

"Come in, come in," Cathy Thomas told the expected guests.

Valin Woodward, 89, steadied by a cane, stepped across the threshold into yesteryear.

The eldest brother, a retired Air Force colonel and decorated World War II pilot, looked around, his blue eyes shining. He took in the handsome millwork, the freshly painted walls, the polished hardwood floor. All four gazed at the staircase they raced up and down as rambunctious boys.

Valin, who has cancer, felt his heart fill.

"We’re so indebted," he told their gracious hosts. "So beholden."

The Thomases had saved the house — possibly from the wrecking ball — and preserved part of a family’s treasured history.

The brothers remember their homestead as clearly as they remember the Depression.

Every wall, every window, every door, every hideaway.

This old house, the repository of their youth, welcomed them, each room filled with dear remembrances, as timeless as a gospel hymn written when the first child of Valin Woodward Sr. and wife, Frances, was 5 years old:

Precious father/loving mother

Fly across the lonely years

And old home scenes/of my childhood

In fond memories appear.

The roots

J.S. McKinley built the house in 1890.

The brothers’ grandfather was one of Arlington’s early merchants. He owned McKinley Hardware Store and sold Banner Buggies and Studebaker wagons.

His daughter married Valin Woodward, an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist.

The couple lived in the large home, and, for a time, Dr. Woodward kept an upstairs office there. He fit patients with glasses and performed tonsillectomies and other procedures. During World War II, the house was used as a hospital.

The Woodwards raised five sons.

Each found a calling and enjoyed professional success.

Valin spent 28 years in the Air Force. He flew a B-24 bomber on D-Day and received many medals for heroism and extraordinary achievement. Later he set two speed records flying an F-80 jet.

Stanley Woodward practiced medicine in New Braunfels for almost 50 years. He also served as mayor. He died in 2004 at age 80.

Morgan Woodward, 83, moved to Hollywood in the 1950s and became an actor, appearing in many motion pictures and television series, including Dallas and Gunsmoke.

He portrayed the silent chain-gang boss who wore mirrored sunglasses in Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman.

Lewis Woodward, 80, of Modesto, Calif., taught voice at the college level for 42 years.

Lee Woodward began a radio career in Denton, working with Willie Nelson, and later moved to Tulsa where he worked as a broadcast announcer for many years.

'My grandfather built it’

The Thomases bought the house in 2001. They moved in two years later.

"It needed a lot of work," Dick Thomas said in an understatement. Once a showplace, a city landmark, this regal lady had lapsed into severe disrepair.

In 2004, while on family business in Modesto, Cathy Thomas attended a concert with a cousin. Her relative introduced her to two friends, Lewis and Shirley Woodward. During conversation the man mentioned that he was born in Arlington.

"Would you know anything about the old McKinley house?" she asked.

His answer astonished her.

"My grandfather built it," Woodward replied.

What were the odds of meeting this woman — a stranger — who owned the home where he and his brothers had grown up? Woodward called it serendipity.