Longtime owner of the Manchester Signal dies at 96 –
By Patricia Beech –
Residents across Adams County, in early January, mourned the loss of one of Adams County’s most iconic and well-known citizens, Georgia Woolard.
A longtime columnist for, and owner of the Manchester Signal, Woolard passed away Jan. 11 at the Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Mayville, Ky. She was 96.
The daughter of Harry B. and Maude (Grooms) Yates, Georgia Eliza Alberta Yates Woolard was born Jan. 3, 1922. She grew up in the Manchester area and graduated from Manchester High School in 1939. On August 22, 1942, she married the late William (Bill) Woolard, a Linotype Mechanic at the Xenia Gazette. Together, they reopened the Manchester Signal in 1947 where the two of them worked side-by-side publishing their weekly paper until Bill’s death in 1984.
Remembered for her weekly column, By Georgia, Woolard leaves behind a legacy of honest, homespun, small town journalism focused on the people and daily happenings in the Manchester area. She was known as a powerful advocate for her community and its people.
“It’s hard to encapsulate everything Georgie meant to our community,” says Adams County Common Pleas Judge Brett Spencer. “She had a hand in raising all of us from my generation – she would praise us in her articles, but she also wouldn’t hesitate to call you aside and offer a sternly-worded criticism when it was deserved. You just didn’t want to disappoint Georgie.”
A gregarious extrovert, Woolard had a “gift for gab,” and the ability to “cut to the chase and tell it like it is” which often brought calls of “you tell ’em Georgie” during Manchester’s village council meetings.
“She was one of a kind,” says Adams County Sheriff Kimmy Rogers. “A very special person who was fun to be around and she’ll be missed by everyone.”
In addition to her seven decades at The Signal, Woolard served as Jury Commissioner for both Judge Spencer and the late Judge David “Deuce” Wilson. She was also active in numerous organizations including: the Nathaniel Massie Park and New Community building Committees; the American Legion Auxiliary; the Manchester Woman’s Club; the Red Hat Society – Old Katz in Red Hats; the Adams County Historical Society; the VFW Auxiliary; the Manchester Young in Heart Club; the Bentonville Community Church; and the West Union Senior Citizens who nominated her as “Adams County Senior Citizen of the Year”.
According to family members, Woolard always had a smile on her face and was gifted with an infectious, sassy spirit.
“She was the life of the party and she lived every day of her life to the fullest,” her obituary read. “To know her was to love her.”
It is a sentiment shared by many.
“Georgie was what God intended when he put man and woman on this earth. She was a kind, compassionate, and responsible,” said Judge Spencer. “Looking at her life makes you reflect and ask yourself ‘What am I doing with my life?’, especially when you see the love others had for Georgie.”
