William Cotham Woods, 84, died Thursday, April 20, 2023. Born in Murfreesboro, TN, his family moved to Hampton in 1951. He earned his master's degree in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech and worked for civil service at NASA retiring in 2002 after 42 years of service. His favorite time at NASA was when he worked on the Mach 20 helium tunnel with hypersonic speeds. He was mentioned in two publications about NASA, "A Century at Langley" and "The Unknown and Impossible".

Mr. Woods loved duck hunting, fishing, snow skiing, going to the beach, especially the time he spent at the family beach house in Corolla, spending time with his friends from NASA, but his greatest joy was spending time with his grandson. An avid runner, he was very proud of the fact that he ran the New York Marathon twice.

Preceded in death by his parents, Emma Lee and Stephen Woods, a brother, Richard Woods, and a sister, Emile Clark; survivors include his wife of 63 years, Martha Jane Woods; his son, Billy Woods and his wife, Christine; and his grandson, Mitchell Woods.

A memorial service will be conducted at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at First United Methodist Church of Hampton.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 110 E. Queen Street, Hampton, VA 23669.