The Woodards had a child, traveled the world courtesy of the Air Force and eventually built their home in east Montgomery. As construction was progressing, they'd wait until the contractors left and take their lawn chairs to sit within the frame of the house, marveling at what they'd been able to achieve after decades of working.
All of that would eventually be taken from Lois.
The house was finished in 1997 and the couple spent five years in their new home together before Willie Woodard died from mesothelioma. Before that, the retired master sergeant asked Richard Sanks, a friend and fellow serviceman at Maxwell Air Force Base, to look out for Lois and handle her finances. She'd never even filed taxes.
"When they told me (Willie) had lung cancer, I said 'that's OK, you can just take one lung out of me, and we can live on the other one'," Lois Woodard said about her husband's diagnosis. She didn't quite understand the severity, but over time, his lungs blackened, and Sanks was by the couple's side in the hospital all of the time.
"He trusted him," she said of her husband's relationship with Sanks.
Now at age 72, Lois Woodard is waiting for Sanks to pay back more than $200,000 and sign the deed of her house back to her. Originally charged with a felony charge specific to elder abuse, Sanks pleaded guilty to theft in the first degree in October 2018. Approved to participate in the county's pretrial diversion program, he has three years to pay back his restitution to avoid jail time.
After Willie's death, Sanks had taken over making sure the bills were paid and the house maintenance kept up. He also helped redo the cabinets and repainted the house.
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