Obituary: Woofter, Dr. Joseph Corder

Dr. Joseph Corder Woofter, F.A.A.D, and former Captain in the United States Army, 83, passed away November 30, 2022, in his home, surrounded by his closest loved ones, just as he wished.

Joe, affectionally known as “Doc,” was born July 7, 1939, in Parkersburg, W.V., to the later Andrew C. Woofter, M.D. and Martha E. (Corder) Woofter. He attended Parkersburg High School but, due to a slight misunderstanding with Mr. Conner, the former Principal and an ill-placed firecracker, subsequently graduated from Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, V.A. in 1958. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan but returned home to graduate from Marietta College with a B.S. in Biology, having found Michigan weather disagreeable, noting Michigan had “nine months of winter and three months of poor sledding.” Afterward, he attended the Medical College of Virginia, during which time he met the love of his life, Mary Ellen (Lindsay) Woofter. Following his graduation from medical school, they were wed on September 20, 1969.

Joe then promptly enlisted in the United States Army as a Captain, where he served as a General Medical Officer. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to Parkersburg and worked for the late Oliver H. Brundage, M.D., as a General Practitioner. He became Board Certified to practice medicine in the state of West Virginia in January 1972. He then applied to and was accepted into the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology, where he completed a three-year-long residency. He and Mary Ellen then returned to Parkersburg in the fall of 1975. He opened his office on August 1, 1976, where he maintained his private medical practice for the last 42 years.

Everyone who knows Joe knows he cared deeply for his patients and maintained his dedication to their health until the day he died. Often patients would ask when they could come to see him, and his standard reply was, “when can you get here?” For that very reason, many of his patients have remained with him for twenty years or better. Perhaps the only thing he loved more than practicing dermatology was his family, in particular, his daughter, her husband, and his four grandchildren, who were the apple of his eye.

Joe is survived by his daughter Annemarie C. Woofter-Maggard and her husband Bradley M. Maggard of Parkersburg, and their four children, Joseph, Michael, Lindsay, and James Prestley Maggard; nephew Andrew C. Woofter (and wife Val), and their five children Annie, Sarah, Drew, Nelson, and Steven Woofter all of Parkersburg; and niece Anne W. Romance (and husband Lance) of Marathon, FL, and their daughters, Autumn and Amber. He is preceded in death by the love of his life, the late Mary Ellen Woofter, and his elder brother Andrew C. Woofter, II.

Services will be Monday, December 5, at 11:00 A.M. at First United Methodist Church, Parkersburg, with Pastor Stacy Hoover officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery with military honors by American Legion Post 15. Visitation will be Sunday from 2-4 and 6-8 P.M. at Leavitt Funeral Home, Parkersburg, and one hour prior to the service at the Church.