Evangelist Carl Troy Woodbury, Sr., 93, a resident of Franklin, NC, (formerly of Indianapolis, IN), went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on August 13, 2015.
The son of the late Luke and Joy Elizabeth (Freeman) Woodbury, he was born February 5, 1922, and reared in Morganton, NC. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Nelle Elizabeth (Woodbury) Barron and Katherine Lillian Woodbury, and a brother, Luke Woodbury, Jr.
He is survived by his loving, devoted wife and best friend of 73 years, Annie Ruth Lane Woodbury. Other surviving family members are his sister Joyce Elizabeth (Woodbury) Edge, of Augusta, GA.; his daughter Lana Carol (Woodbury) Petersen, and husband James D. Petersen, Sr., of Franklin; his son Carl Troy Woodbury, Jr., and wife Sandra Lynn (Nease), of Lawrenceville, GA; four grandchildren: Carla Christine (Petersen), and husband Fredrick Sankuer, of Florence, SC; James D. Petersen, Jr., and wife Donna Renee (Anders), of Brevard, NC; Blake Troy Woodbury, and wife Jennifer Elaine (Ramsey), of Monroe, GA; and Kimberly Lynn (Woodbury), and husband Taylor DeForrest Smith, of Roswell, GA. He also had nine great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
Carl joined the Navy during World War II and served as a Corpsman / Medic attached to the U. S. Marines serving in the Pacific Theater: Marines loved their Corpsmen.
After attending Mars Hill College, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Wake Forest College in Wake Forest, NC, and did his seminary work at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upton, PA.
Carl trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior March 23, 1955, and became a born again Christian after pastoring a number of Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina. He wrote his personal testimony of salvation, "A Lost Preacher Saved," describing his long journey through the modernism and mysticism being taught in the Southern and Northern Baptist schools he attended. Then he printed and gave out several hundred thousand copies of the booklet. A copy of "A Lost Preacher Saved" is available free from Missionary Tract Fund Limited, Inc.
Before entering his evangelistic work, he pastored several Independent Baptist churches in North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana. Evangelistic meetings took him to all fifty states and forty-four foreign countries in forty-seven years. Evangelist Woodbury was a long-time member of Fellowship Baptist Church in Lebanon, Ohio.
Evangelist Woodbury's life's ministry was to preach the Gospel of His Lord Jesus Christ, but he also had an insatiable desire to get His message out by way of Gospel tracts. He personally financed and helped in the printing and distribution of many millions of copies of those Gospel tracts. Evangelist Woodbury also took many mission trips specifically to preach and pass out those tracts.
Funeral Service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 22, at Victory Baptist Church, 25 Victory Church Road, Sylva (midway between Franklin and Sylva on US 441). Receiving of friends will be held from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Saturday, prior to the service at the church. Those conducting the service are Rev. R. C. Redmond, Rev. Rusty Wolfrey, and Rev. Benny Bagwell. Graveside Service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, August 23 at Forest Hill Cemetery in Morganton, NC.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Missionary Tract Fund Limited Inc., P. O. Box 28, Franklin, NC 28744.
The Macon Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15