I met John Woodward and his daughter Aubrey a few years ago when they were walking their dogs, Tucker and Emmett, both Field Spaniels. We featured them in our "Precious Pets" section of Wyomissing Neighbors. Mike said, “Tucker was our first family pet and his passing was hard on all of us. Emmett still looks for him these years later.”

 

Peggy Woodward and John live in a beautiful 100-year-old home on Reading Boulevard. Both are professionals, athletic and energetic. Peggy is a Registered Dental Hygienist and a Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner. She is a consultant, educator, author, and speaker advocating preventive dental health and comprehensive dental treatment for both public and private entities.  

 

“My PHDHP License allows me to work independently, offering comprehensive dental hygiene services in a manner and location that is convenient to the patient,” said Peggy. “I can comfortably and gently treat patients in the privacy and comfort of their continuing care retirement community, nursing home, private care home, or any other type of health care facility.

 

 

John is the owner of Keystone Management Holdings, which provides:

Custom CFO solutions – market strength in renewable energy and healthcare Investment banking resource funding (economic, social, community development, and humanitarian funding – jobs creation)
 Corporate financial and operational management, CFO/COO contract/fractional and consulting
 Corporate asset, trust, and foundation management, and international project finance

 

Peggy grew up in Whitfield, attending St. Ignatius grade school and Holy Name High School. Mike grew up in Birdsboro and attended Daniel Boone High School. Ellie attended West Virginia University for her undergrad and Eastern University for her MBA. John attended Penn State University for his undergrad and St. Joseph’s University for his MBA in Finance.

 

Where did you meet as a couple and when were you married?  We met at Stoppers on Route 422, Birdsboro. It was sort of a club back then... Summer, I was working at my first job for a prosthodontist in Short Hills, NJ, and was visiting home for the weekend, carrying on with my HN friends. John was with his high school buddies, working a summer job, going into his senior year at Penn State. We were married on October 3, 1987. In the pouring rain! St. Ignatius and Stokesay Castle and 350 family and friends! It was amazing.

 

How long have you lived in Wyomissing?  About 12 years. We had to…sort of.  We were in Exeter, the kids were at St. Catherine’s, and our oldest, Sawyer, was ready to go into 9th grade. Peggy played both field hockey and lacrosse and, after going to sports camps at Holy Name, she just had to go there. Central Catholic didn’t have enough kids in the high school to even merit a team. The diocese for years planned a new combined catholic HS, but it never happened. The bishop ruled you must go to the high school in the town in which you lived. We had one month to find a home. We did!

 

Sawyer is 25 and is a practicing lawyer in Charleston, SC. She loves fashion, any dog she sees, travel, boating, working out, decorating, and her cat, Meecha. Sawyer attended Berks Catholic HS, where she played field hockey and lacrosse; Sacred Heart University, where she played D1 Lacrosse; and Notre Dame of Maryland, where she played both field hockey and lacrosse.   She was Captain and MVP in both respective sports. She attended Elon University School of Law and graduated with a dual law/MBA degree in 2018.

 

                               

Aubrey, 22, graduated from Berks Catholic, where she ran track and played lacrosse and field hockey. She is a senior at Virginia Military Institute, currently finishing her 22 credits bunkered down at our beach house in NJ. She is a double major in French and International Cultures. She traveled abroad twice to study in France, staying a semester with her host family in Aux de Provence, immersed in the culture. She dreams of working internationally in intellectual property law. Aubrey will be attending law school in the fall, and we are waiting to hear the news regarding acceptance as we speak. She loves to run, work out, read, debate, and paint. VMI canceled graduation, of course – so sad for many life events but completely necessary for the containment of the virus.   

 

Do you have any family traditions?  Our summers at the beach solidified the family as we were able to spend quality time away from the craziness of traveling sports and the busy high school years.  We have a traditional feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve as we celebrate Jesus’s birth with our friends and family…Stories are read, prayers are said, games are played, a birthday cake is sung to Jesus, and we go out on the lawn for a sprinkling of the reindeer food we always make together. There are so many family traditions, like our annual Christmas cookie-making day (such a mess) and Easter egg hunts. We love to celebrate, laugh, and be together.

 

What do you as a family like to do to relax?   Our beach house. Somehow the exact moment when we see the water as we are driving into Diamond Beach, NJ, we all get a little nicer, a little calmer, and a whole lot more fun. It’s just chill and easy.

 

Are you involved in the community?   We are very involved with Sacred Heart School and Parish. Our youngest, Aubrey, attended when we moved here, and it molded her in ways that are with her as a senior in college today. It is a hidden jewel in a crazy world. Very traditional, very loving with the right dose of discipline and accountability. Mike and I were very involved with youth sports, their Catholic grade schools, and Berks Catholic on so many levels – from both of us coaching lacrosse that first inaugural year with the amazing, and oh-so-patient Andi Ditsky to becoming President of the Parent Association in my last year!  Yes, we loved being a part of all Wyomissing had to offer with the stone house activities, the parades, and the ability to have amenities for all of us within walking distance.

 

What are your favorite things about Wyomissing? We love to take first fall/ first snow/first spring walks through the Wyomissing Park early in the morning. It never gets old. We love to walk in West Reading and see what’s new and visit the shops on Penn Avenue. We always find neighbors and friends there.