Arloa Reynolds Woodard Dickinson

Arloa Reynolds Woodard Dickinson

October 11, 1927 ~ February 11, 2026

Arloa, age 98. died peacefully at home in Post Falls, Idaho, surrounded by family. She was born on October 11, 1927, to Alonzo F. and Minnie Addie Reynolds. At the age of 10 months, her father, the foreman of a large sheep ranch, contracted Rocky Mountain Fever and died of pneumonia. She had an older sister Deon and brother Neldon. Her mother later remarried Elmer Jack Fausett and they had two additional children, Lorene and Valina.

Before her father died, he held her on his lap and drummed her fingers on the table and said "This one is going to play the piano." At great sacrifice her mother obtained a piano and lessons. She told of her mother saying "I don't care whether you want to practice or not, you are going to, so you might as well enjoy it!" At 9 years old she played for Primary and at 12 she was Ward Organist. At 15 she gave piano lessons one day a week.

She married Lawrence H Woodard on July 8, 1945, during his 8 day leave from the Navy. That fall, she attended Brigham Young University for a term and the professor there told her she could be a concert pianist. While raising a family of five children in Farmington, NM, she gave as many as 48 piano and organ lessons a week (starting at 6:30 am). The earnings from these lessons greatly augmented the family income and benefited many youth in the area. Later when living in Albuquerque, she partnered with her husband to build the business of Woodard Explosives, which was the largest distributor in the southwest. In 1989 they retired to Coeur d'Alene, ID where she continued her hobby of quilting. She completed quits to all her children and grandchildren. While in CDA she also recorded upwards of 40 plus CDs of music on a fantastic piano her husband bought her. A woman of unshakeable faith in the Church of Jesus Christ, she served a mission to Paraguay following the death of her husband, as she was fluent in Spanish.

In 2004, she married Von Louis Dickinson. They supported each other for 21 years, serving missions to Palmyra, NY, Nauvoo, IL, and working in the Hill Cumorah Temple, Nauvoo Temple, and Spokane Temple. Arloa is survived by her husband Von and children Pauline Sommerfeldt, Lonnie H Woodard, Steven L Woodard, Lew R Woodard, and 13 grandchildren, great and great-great-grandchildren