On October 1, 2023, three weeks after her 80th birthday, Alison Vee “Sally” Woodruff Bewley departed this life and returned to her heavenly home after a three year courageous fight against pancreatic cancer. We will remember her as a loving, articulate, loyal and remarkably talented woman – a daughter, sister, wife, mother, companion and friend who lived a full and righteous life, positively impacting everyone she met.

Sally, the first in her family of four siblings, was born on September 9, 1943, during the height of World War II to the late Richard Vee Woodruff and Phyllis Eleanor Field Woodruff at Army Air Forces Barksdale Field in Bossier City, LA. Her father, a B-26 bomber pilot, gave her the nickname “Sally” and honored her by painting the name “My Gal Sal” on the nose of his airplane.

Sally first lived with her family in New York and then in Virginia until 1957 when the family moved to Tehran, Iran, where she attended high school at the International Community School. There she had many rich, cultural experiences that influenced her entire life. In 1960, at age 16, she spent the summer traveling by ship, rail and foot across Europe with a good friend, arriving back in Fairfax, VA, for her high school senior year.

She attended college at Miami University in Oxford, OH, earning her Bachelor of Science in Education. During this time, she was introduced to Glenn Bewley, who was asked to keep her company by her date for a short period of time. She decided that she liked Glenn’s company better than her date’s and began to determine where and when Glenn would be on campus and how she could happen to run into him. They were married on January 30, 1965.

After finishing college, following Glenn through a Navy assignment in Pensacola, FL, and supporting him through graduate school, the family finally settled in Cary, NC in 1977. There they finished raising their four children who have always been the joy of Sally’s life. During this time, she restarted teaching school in the mid 1980s, earned a Masters of Education at North Carolina State in 1989, and was only a few credits shy of a second Masters degree in Child Development.

Sally was a consummate mother to everyone and cared immensely about the welfare of babies and children. During the early days of her marriage and child rearing, she became a La Leche League leader and served for many years helping women learn to breast-feed, nurture and nourish their newborns. Later, as the children got older, neighborhood children enjoyed coming to the Bewley household to eat her delicious, homemade “Bewley Bread”.

In 1990, when her husband of 25 years passed away of cancer at an early age, Sally bravely navigated the world of sudden single parenthood and widowhood, transitioning to full time work as a teacher while leading her family through their devastating loss.

Sally dedicated 28 years of her life teaching 4th grade at Hunter Elementary in downtown Raleigh. The hundreds of lucky fourth graders who had Mrs. Bewley for their math and science teacher remember her as someone who masterfully taught and kindled in them a love for learning. Sally loved learning and was a voracious reader like her mother before her. One could always find her reading in her chair with a stack of books nearby. She was incredibly bright, opinionated and passionate about politics, church, the welfare of children, and her family.

Shortly after retiring in 2011, she continued to tutor students and started playing Bridge regularly. During this time, she was blessed to meet Barry Poteat, her faithful, loving, patient companion, and Bridge and puzzle partner for the last nine years of her life. Barry was with her until the end and is a cherished and beloved member of the Bewley family.

One of the greatest joys of her life was being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1970. She received her temple ordinances in 1991, which included being sealed for all time and eternity to her deceased husband. She worked in the North Carolina temple in Apex for many years. She joyfully researched and discovered our family history through genealogy. She was always true and faithful to her covenants with God and leaves a loving, lasting and eternal influence through her Christlike example.

Sally leaves behind her three siblings and their spouses, Penny Schulstad (Jon), Shirley Metzger (Steve), and Dick Woodruff (Kate); four children and their spouses, Scott Allen Bewley (Lorelle), Kathleen Ellen Hines (Rob), Gregory Charles Bewley (Shelley), and Emily Beth Melton (Ryan); as well as, nine grandchildren (Will and his wife Taylor, Wes and Ethan Hines; Rebekah and Joshua Bewley; Ella and Ava Melton; and Caroline and Anna Bewley) and one great grandchild (Kennedy Grace Hines).

Sally’s funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday October 7, 2023 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints building at 2540 North Broad Street, Fuquay-Varina, NC. She will be interred with her husband Glenn at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Cary, NC. The family will receive visitors before the service from 9:15 until 10:15 AM in the Relief Society room at the church.

The funeral service will be live streamed at the following link:

https://zoom.us/j/96156586357?pwd=dWludldQVWhXWHhKYWpFM1pKbzc3QT09