Notes for Laurence Eric Woods: Laurence Eric Woods was born at the Gippsland Base Hospital Sale on December4, 1944. He was the second child of Clifford Laurence Woods & Myrtle Doreen Sprague, who were living at 5 York St Sale opposite the Police Station. Laurie was born with a caul over his face, which is when an infant is born swathed in the amnion membrane. The amnion membrane surrounds the fettus in a sac in the womb. This is supposed to be very lucky. Superstition is that it saves you from drowning. At a young age Laurie decided to burn Merrilyne's book of The Little Red Hen. The biggest problem was he burnt it under the Cyprus hedge, which went up in smoke very quickly. The Fire Brigade came and luckily they put it out before it spread beyond the hedge. About this time Merrilyne, Laurie, Leon and Naomi all had the measles. Cliff had gone to Tasmania for the funeral of his mother, Magdalene Wade Garnett. ( Woods ) Laurie attended Sale545 PS, Pearsondale PS,( no longer a School) Wurruk PS, and Sale Technical School. Laurie left School when he was 14, and worked at Wurruk Motors, on the corner of the Princes Hwy & Irwin St Wurruk. He loved to drive the cars across the road where they were put to sell. Laurie had open heart surgery when he was 15 years old. At that time this was major surgery. There was a artery into his heart that narrowed and was causing severe restriction. Myrtle was told if he didn't have surgery, he would only live for six months, and if he did there were no guarantees that he would survive the surgery. What a heart wrenching decision that was for Myrtle. He had the surgery at the Alfred Hospital Melbourne and after some time in hospital came home and recovered. Laurie ran away from home and ended up in Eden, NSW. He was quite young at the time, and we were all frantic. Myrtle & Cliff borrowed a ute and drove to Eden and brought him home. Laurie liked to play snooker, billiards and watch Sale Football Club the Magpies play. Laurie worked for Tri State in Dawson St (near the Sale Show grounds) for some years and then changed to Otis Engineering in Guthridge Parade. While he was working here he often flew offshore by helicopter. On a trip back the Chopper was forced to make an emergency landing at Golden Beach. On the way down to land the door flew open, and Laurie fell into the sea, he was not injured. There is a newspaper article about the accident, but it doesn't mention him falling into the sea. Laurie went to Dallas, Texas in the USA to work with Otis. When he returned they sent him to Saudi Arabia to work in the Persian Gulf. He arrived there on February 6, 1974. There is a letter he wrote to his Mother in Naomi McDonald's files. Naomi also has another letter Laurie wrote on June 14, 1974 to his boss in Sale, Barrry White. This date turned out to be a disaster for us here at home. On June 14, 1974 Laurie was involved in a head on collision with a truck load of Arab's in Saudi Arabia and was killed instantly. The red tape involved when somebody is killed in Saudi is unbelievable. At one stage we didn't know if they were even going to send him home to us. Leon Woods & Paul McDonald went to identify the body. We said our final farewells at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral on June 22, 1974 at 10 am. The service and burial was taken by Dean Ray Elliot. Laurie is buried with his father Clifford Laurence Woods in the Anglican section of the old cemetery. After the burial we all shared lunch at Myrtle's home 156 Dawson St Sale.
More About Laurence Eric Woods: Burial: June 22, 1974, Sale Old Cemetery.
Laurence Eric Woods (b. December 4, 1944, d. June 14, 1974)
Notes for Laurence Eric Woods: