Young Woolford, a 'spark in any crowd'
Family, friends, classmates mourn loss of school athlete
By Pat van den Beemt
pvdb@comcast.net
Posted 9/30/08
When Enjeen Woolford was seriously injured in a head-on car accident on Paper Mill Road in Phoenix two years ago, her son, Dennis, gave her a plaque that read, “Don’t Drive Faster Than Your Guardian Angel.”
She hopes his guardian angel was at his side when he was killed in a head-on collision Sept. 26 while on his way to Loyola Blakefield in Towson, where he was a junior.
She talked about her son minutes before hundreds of people came to the Ruck Funeral Home in Towson on Sept. 29.
“He was simply an amazing child. He was a kid who laughed and had the perfect smile,” she said. “He played soccer, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, football. He was a golfer, a snowboarder, a paint-baller. He excelled in any sport he tried.”
While acknowledging his 17-year-old son’s aptitude for sports, David Woolford focused on his son’s character.
“This father was more proud of his friendship and his big heart than he was of any trophies,” David Woolford said through tears. “Every day we told him we loved him. I’m so proud to have him as my son.”
Dennis Woolford’s classmates from Loyola, all wearing ties and many in sports coats, appeared stunned as they knelt by their friend’s coffin and looked at photos of his family life. Before attending Loyola, Dennis Woolford went to St. James Academy in Monkton.
“You just couldn’t get mad at him. He’d be the one cheering you up, no matter what,” said John Cole, of Baldwin, who met Dennis Woolford when they were sixth-graders at Loyola.
A large group of Loyola students talked about their friend. He liked to sing “girl songs,” like Hannah Montana, out loud. He was good at all sports, but humble. You couldn’t be mad at him for very long. He was a nerd who liked video games, but could hang with the cool guys. He drank light blue Gatorade every day at breakfast. He ran from soccer practice to football practice, where he had just started as a kicker. He made them laugh.
At the viewing, he made them cry.
He was on his way to school Sept. 26 when his car went out of control on a stretch of Jarrettsville Pike south of Merrryman’s Mill Road known locally as “dead man’s curve.” His car hit a Jeep driven by Gabrielle Payne, 17, who was on her way to Harford Lutheran School, in Bel Air, police said.
Enjeen Woolford said Payne was released from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center the same day with facial lacerations. Woolford left a phone message for the Payne family on Sept. 29, asking about her condition.
Enjeen Woolford and her daughter, Michelle, a freshman at Notre Dame Preparatory School, left their Phoenix house a few minutes after Dennis on Sept. 26.
When they were detoured because of the accident, Enjeen got a bad feeling and tried calling and texting Dennis to see if he made it past the accident scene.
No answer.
“I knew it was him.”
After dropping off her daughter, she drove through Loyola’s parking lot but didn’t see Dennis’ car. When she checked Loyola and learned he hadn’t arrived, she drove up Jarrettsville Pike, where she was stopped by police. A few minutes later, they told her that her son was in an accident and died at the scene.
“He was the perfect child,” said Enjeen Woolford’s sister, Lauren Lee, known to Dennis’ friends as “Emo,” Korean for “Aunt.”
“Even animals loved him,” she said. “A dog that would growl at everybody else would run up to Dennis and lick him. He was the big spark in any crowd.”
Loyola Blakefield celebrated a memorial Mass for Dennis Woolford on Sept. 30. Interment was private.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Loyola Blakefield, 500 Chestnut Ave., Towson, MD, 21204.
She hopes his guardian angel was at his side when he was killed in a head-on collision Sept. 26 while on his way to Loyola Blakefield in Towson, where he was a junior.
She talked about her son minutes before hundreds of people came to the Ruck Funeral Home in Towson on Sept. 29.
“He was simply an amazing child. He was a kid who laughed and had the perfect smile,” she said. “He played soccer, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, football. He was a golfer, a snowboarder, a paint-baller. He excelled in any sport he tried.”
While acknowledging his 17-year-old son’s aptitude for sports, David Woolford focused on his son’s character.
“This father was more proud of his friendship and his big heart than he was of any trophies,” David Woolford said through tears. “Every day we told him we loved him. I’m so proud to have him as my son.”
Dennis Woolford’s classmates from Loyola, all wearing ties and many in sports coats, appeared stunned as they knelt by their friend’s coffin and looked at photos of his family life. Before attending Loyola, Dennis Woolford went to St. James Academy in Monkton.
“You just couldn’t get mad at him. He’d be the one cheering you up, no matter what,” said John Cole, of Baldwin, who met Dennis Woolford when they were sixth-graders at Loyola.
A large group of Loyola students talked about their friend. He liked to sing “girl songs,” like Hannah Montana, out loud. He was good at all sports, but humble. You couldn’t be mad at him for very long. He was a nerd who liked video games, but could hang with the cool guys. He drank light blue Gatorade every day at breakfast. He ran from soccer practice to football practice, where he had just started as a kicker. He made them laugh.
At the viewing, he made them cry.
He was on his way to school Sept. 26 when his car went out of control on a stretch of Jarrettsville Pike south of Merrryman’s Mill Road known locally as “dead man’s curve.” His car hit a Jeep driven by Gabrielle Payne, 17, who was on her way to Harford Lutheran School, in Bel Air, police said.
Enjeen Woolford said Payne was released from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center the same day with facial lacerations. Woolford left a phone message for the Payne family on Sept. 29, asking about her condition.
Enjeen Woolford and her daughter, Michelle, a freshman at Notre Dame Preparatory School, left their Phoenix house a few minutes after Dennis on Sept. 26.
When they were detoured because of the accident, Enjeen got a bad feeling and tried calling and texting Dennis to see if he made it past the accident scene.
No answer.
“I knew it was him.”
After dropping off her daughter, she drove through Loyola’s parking lot but didn’t see Dennis’ car. When she checked Loyola and learned he hadn’t arrived, she drove up Jarrettsville Pike, where she was stopped by police. A few minutes later, they told her that her son was in an accident and died at the scene.
“He was the perfect child,” said Enjeen Woolford’s sister, Lauren Lee, known to Dennis’ friends as “Emo,” Korean for “Aunt.”
“Even animals loved him,” she said. “A dog that would growl at everybody else would run up to Dennis and lick him. He was the big spark in any crowd.”
Loyola Blakefield celebrated a memorial Mass for Dennis Woolford on Sept. 30. Interment was private.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Loyola Blakefield, 500 Chestnut Ave., Towson, MD, 21204.
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