WOODROW WILSON (RED) SELF OBITUARY

Woodrow Wilson (Red) Self, age 91 died May 23, 2009 following a courageous battle with cancer. He spent many years of his life with the Birmingham, AL Police Department and worked as a private investigator. He was a member ofthe East Lake Masonic Lodge, Shriners and Fraternal Order of Police. He was a member of the Pinson United Methodist Church. He was born April 27, 1918 in Pinson, Jefferson County, Alabama to the late Rupert Sylvester Self and Alice Darden Self. After attending school inPinson, he served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Cowell and was wounded during the Pacific Campaign of WWII. He is survived by his wife Mary Frances and his brother Alfred; his sons Gerald (Carole) Self, Maryville, Tennessee and David Eugene (Jeanie) Self, Dunnellon, Florida and his stepchildren Dot (Roger) Butler, Morris, Alabama; Gary (Kay) Buchanan, Janet (Kenneth) Kiley and Shirley Green all of Pinson, Alabama. In addition, he is survived by many grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Visitation will be at Ridouts Roebuck Chapel, May 26, starting at 5:00 to 7:30. Funeral services for Mr. Self will be at 10:00, May 27, 2009 at the Chapel. Graveside services will follow at Brashers Cemetery, Arab Alabama. We would like to thank all of the staff of the New Beacon Hospice for theirhelp and support.

Note: Mr. Self was the father of my "DNA Cousin" David Self. David and I met a few years ago at a gathering of the Self Family Newsletter members in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was at that reunion where we tested our DNA to try to link our two Self families. We ended up being very closely linked as far as the DNA is concerned, but the search goes on for our common ancestor. There are a few theories, but we have yet to connect the paper trail. David and his brother, Gerald are great guys. It is an honor to call them cousins. Gerald and his wife have attended the Self Family reunion we have each September in Maryville Tennessee.