Joyce Hunter Woodford

Joyce Hunter Woodford, beloved wife of William (d. 2014), devoted mother of Robert L. Stanton (d. 2025), and lifelong friend to many, passed away on January 27, 2026, following emergency gastrointestinal surgery. She was 78.

Joyce was born March 11, 1947, following the end of World War II, in Livorno Italy to 1st Lieutenant Jehu C. Hunter (3rd Battalion, 365th Infantry Regiment, The Buffalo Division) and Francesca Castelli (Ferguson) of Marina di Pietrasanta. Shortly after her birth, Joyce and her parents came to America where they briefly lived with her grandparents before settling in the Petworth section of Washington, D.C., where she attended public schools, graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1965.

Joyce’s professional career spanned more than 5 decades. Joyce started on a nursing track before deciding to take a position as a statistical clerk which would launch her 20 year career in financial management for the National Institutes of Health, culminating as a budget officer for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), serving many directors including Dr. Anthony Fauci who became director of the NIAID in 1984.

Following a distinguished career as a budget officer of NIAID, Joyce became a program officer for NIH’s Office of Special Populations and Research Training where she worked on the development of programs to increase the pool of qualified underrepresented biomedical research scientists (minorities and women) to compete for clinical research support. Following her retirement from NIAID in 2004, for more than a decade Joyce was a consulting budget analyst for NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration.

During her years at NIAID, Joyce earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (1995) and a Master of Science in Public Policy (1999), both from the University of Maryland. She also provided leadership to the Association of Government Accountants, serving as president of the Montgomery-Prince Georges County Chapters, as well as vice president of the Capital Region.

Following in the footsteps of her father and grandmother, Joyce was active in many civic engagement and volunteer activities in Queen Anne’s County, MD, with a devotion to helping others. She was one of 12 founding directors of the county’s League of Women Voters. Her grandmother, Alice Callis Hunter, was the first African-American elected president of the D.C. League of Women Voters (a remembrance narrated by Joyce can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=e4eeaHPhxcE).

Joyce also served on the county’s Department of Social Services Advisory Board as well as an executive board officer for the Maryland Association of Social Services Board. Joyce joined the Queen Anne’s County Master Gardeners in 2003 and was an active, dedicated volunteer for many years, especially supporting its plant sale and seed swap, and as a mentor to its Master Gardener interns. A nature lover and supporter of environmental stewardship, Joyce joined the Adkins Arboretum as a volunteer and was a regular of its book club.

Joyce married William (“Bill”) Woodford in 1978, raising the teenage Robert together in Gaithersburg, MD. In 1996, they made good on their vision to move to a Chesapeake Bay shore community where they planned to spend their post-retirement years. Members of Prospect Bay Club for 30 years, Joyce and Bill loved life on the bay and for many years, together with their dog “Miss Snoops”, and cat “Winston”, hosted family and friends alike for gatherings and bar-b-ques. More recently, following the passing of Bill, her son Robert joined her in living at Prospect Bay until his passing from cancer in May of last year. Next to her family, Joyce's greatest joy was the extraordinary number of friendships she developed and nurtured over the course of her life.

Preceding Joyce’s transition were parents Jehu C. Hunter and Francesca Ferguson. Joyce is survived with memories to cherish her brother Roberto (Bert) Hunter (Donna Webster) of Greenwich, CT, her sister Maria Northington of Bowie, MD, nephews Alexander Hunter (Naomi Haefner) of St. Gallen, Switzerland and Tyrone Northington of Bowie, MD, a niece Dana Hunter of Greenwich, CT, her uncle Lawrence Waddell of Silver Spring, MD, many cousins in the USA and Italy where she was born, and scores of friends and relatives, in particular Beverly Hill, Gwenda Harrison, Mark Conliffe, Christine Collins, Janice Sawyer Roberts, Benjamin Kraft and Guileine Kraft who were at her side when she transitioned.

Joyce will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. She is remembered as the kindest person with the largest heart. A memorial service is being planned for late April.

Tribute or memorial contributions may be made to the Queen Anne’s County League of Women’s Voters (lwvqac.org/support) or Adkins Arboretum (adkinsarboretum.org).

The family of Joyce Hunter Woodford thanks you for your acts of kindness and words of condolence. Joyce has a special place in all our hearts and we appreciate you sharing.

Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear. ---Unknown