"He was a Philadelphia Champion"

Georgie Woods' Memorial CD
distributed at the funeral
Thursday, June 30, 2005

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

Rev. Bill Gray, a former U.S. Congressman representing Philadelphia, was the presiding minister of the funeral services for "The Guy with the Goods," Georgie Woods on Thursday, June 30, 2005 at the Bright Hope Baptist Church at 12th and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in North Philadelphia. Gray is the president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund and he said, referring to Woods, that "he was a Philadelphia Champion."

Philadelphia Mayor John Street spoke for ten minutes to help celebrate the life of Georgie Woods. He stated that "everyone in Philadelphia was better off because of Georgie Woods."

State Representative and WDAS (AM) air personality Louise Williams Bishop told everyone that we will all meet Georgie Woods again "in Heaven." Joe (Butterball) Tamburro said how he listened to Woods on the radio as a kid and Kenny Gamble, co-founder of Philadelphia International Records, recounted how he would walk from his home in South Philly to Fairmount Park where WDAS was located to hang out with Woods.

Georgie Woods' Memorial Record Cut Out
distributed at the funeral
Thursday, June 30, 2005

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

Not since the funeral of Ed Sciaky (January 2004) has the city of Philadelphia seen such an outpouring of love and affection for a legendary broadcaster. Thousands of people from all walks of life were there to pay their last respects. The funeral cavalcade to the cemetery was over a mile long.

Rev. Gray told everyone that it was in the original building of the Bright Hope Baptist Church where Georgie Woods met a young student who was studying the gospel in nearby Chester and Gray's father (then pastor of the church) asked the man barely out of his teens to preach the sermon that week. Ever since that moment, Georgie Woods and Dr. Martin Luther King became close and personal friends.

Georgie Woods' Memorial Booklet
distributed at the funeral
Thursday, June 30, 2005

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

Radio legend Georgie Woods died at the age of 78 on the morning of Saturday, June 18, 2005 from a heart attack.

George always liked being around people. He loved everyone. Someone was heard saying after the service that George was looking down from Heaven and he probably said that he was "proud to see you in the crowd" and he was delighted to "see your face in that place." Those were two of Woods' favorite phrases.

Georgie Woods is indeed, a legend but Bill Gray hit it right on the nose when he said that Georgie Woods "was a Philadelphia Champion."