By KeysNet Staff

Henry Woods, a stalwart in Florida Keys academia and politics, died at 10 a.m. Sunday

He slipped into a coma on Christmas Eve. Woods, 58, was a 10-year Key West resident and taken via helicopter to Miami after suffering a severe aneurysm.

Woods, an adjunct political science professor at Florida Keys Community College, ran for Monroe County elections supervisor against incumbent Harry Sawyer in 2008. He'd been very active in the Democratic Party, and is a past president of the Lambda Democrats in Key West.

He also ran Woods Consulting, which takes on public relations, grant writing and other responsibilities for local groups such as AIDS Help, the Waterfront Playhouse and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

Woods was a native of Arkansas and graduated with a bachelor's in political science from the University of Arkansas in 1973 and obtained a master's degree from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1998.

Henry was a past President of the Lambda Democrats, the Monroe County chapter of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus. He most recently served as the Area 7 Regional Director and organized the 2009 Summer Conference in Key West.