In Memoriam

A leader in the field of medical device innovation and a prominent philanthropist in the River Towns, Woodall died July 30 after a short illness.

A resident of Doylestown Township, Woodall spent thirty-seven years at Johnson & Johnson, eventually becoming president of Interventional Systems. In 1994 he helped develop the world’s first coronary stent, a breakthrough technology that benefitted millions of people worldwide.

After retiring from Johnson & Johnson in 2000, Woodall became the first CEO of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. He also served as CEO of Thrombolex, a company he co-founded in 2016 to develop the Bashir endovascular catheter, which treats blood clots in the lungs and blood vessels. Upon his death, Dr. Juan F. Granada, the president and current CEO of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, wrote on Facebook: “Marv was an extraordinary leader whose vision helped shape CRF and whose influence reached far beyond our organization. [H]e inspired all of us through his wisdom, generosity, and unwavering commitment to advancing cardiovascular medicine.”

Woodall and his late wife, Dee Ann, to whom he was married more than sixty years, were generous supporters of many River Towns organizations. In 2019 they gave $2.5 million to the Doylestown Health Foundation to establish the Woodall Center for Heart and Vascular Care at Doylestown Hospital. Marv Woodall served as founding chair of the Bucks County Playhouse Artists Board, and the couple were honored for their leadership at the Playhouse’s 2023 gala.

In June, Woodall donated $100,000 to the Herald Foundation, the fundraising arm of the nonprofit Bucks County Herald, the Doylestown-based weekly newspaper and a sister publication to River Towns. A founding member of the foundation’s board of directors, Woodall was also its largest donor. “He really helped us stabilize the Herald,” says Bridget Wingert, the chair of the foundation’s board. “His recent donation was very important to us and certainly appreciated.”

Wingert recalls the pictures of hearts the Woodalls displayed throughout their home. “The heart was a symbol that was very important to Marv all his life,” she says. “It was a symbol of his kindness, of his thinking of other people.”

Epstein came to Frenchtown when he became editor of the Delaware Valley News in 1977, and in his books he shared his fascination with the River Town he called home for half a century. His two most recent books, Frenchtown and More Frenchtown (Palmetto, 2023 and 2025), were compilations of stories spanning the borough’s history. Over the past decade, Epstein, the official borough historian, led a variety of memorable ninety-minute walking tours of his adopted hometown, including one he called the Bad Luck & Poor Choices Tour. In vintage Epstein fashion, he wove historical fact with popular lore, always with a dash of funny.

Epstein was feted in June at a dinner in his honor at the Frenchtown American Legion hall. Earlier that month, Delaware Valley Regional High School announced that its annual journalism award will be named after Epstein.

“Today is a sad day,” Stockton sculptor Ray King wrote on Facebook in late July upon Jersey’s death, at age 99.

A filmmaker-turned-landscape artist, Jersey was known for his color-drenched, light-infused canvases, the fruits of his second career after moving to Lambertville from California. Retired from a long and successful run as a documentary filmmaker, the winner of multiple Emmy and Peabody awards, Jersey continued his visual storytelling with brush, palette, and paint, winning accolades and exhibitions in River Towns galleries. “Painting is what I love,” Jersey told River Towns in a 2022 profile. “It keeps me going.”