Gregory Martin Wodark

Gregory Martin Wodark died unexpectedly on January 16, 2021 at the age of 66.  He was born July 6, 1954 in Denver, Colorado.  He grew up north of Denver with his three siblings until he left for college to attend the University of Colorado (CU) in Boulder.  He received a Biology degree from CU in 1977.  After completing his college education, he pursued an opportunity with two other partners to open a Nautilus Swim & Sport Center.  Together with two other partners, Greg successfully ran the gym until 1985.  While Greg was operating the Nautilus gym, he met Lynda Helfend, whom he married in 1984. After they were married, Greg & Lynda moved to California at which time Greg made a career change.  He started working as a Stockbroker and then became a licensed Financial Advisor.  He and Lynda adopted two boys from Minsk, Belarus;  Alex, age 7, and Nicholas, age 22 months.  Greg & Lynda’s lives drastically changed once they added the two boys to their family.  Greg spent the next 20+ years being the best dad he could to Nick & Alex.  He took them to church, taught them how to ski and introduced them to team sports.  He taught them everything he could about life and tried as hard as he could to raise them to be good young men. Despite having never played baseball, Greg signed up to coach his youngest son, Nick since that was what interested him.  Greg found, to his surprise, that he enjoyed the game and enjoyed watching his son progress even more.  Greg was a ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort in California for many years.  He taught Alex & Nick to ski at a young age.  It didn’t matter to Greg that it was a 7 hour drive each way from his house in Coto De Caza, CA, a trip that he frequently made over the weekend.  This just gave him more time in his turbo charged sports car!  It also gave him time with his boys, although they didn’t appreciate that at the time.  Both boys developed a love of the mountains and many outdoor activities such as fishing, boogie-boarding, and biking. Greg had many passions and interests during his lifetime.  Skiing, cars and alternative medicine were the top three.  He was also a devout Catholic and raised his sons knowing what it meant to have religion as a support for life’s challenges.  Greg sang in the choir at San Francisco Solano for many years, which he greatly enjoyed. In more recent years, Greg began posting many opinions on Quora.com, which is an online crowdsourced Q&A platform that allows users to post about any topics they choose.  Greg’s extensive knowledge and insight into alternative medicine included methods to combat things like sinus infections, vitamin deficiencies and most recently, possible COVID treatments.  His research will be forever memorialized on Quora.com.  He has had hundreds of thousands of people read his Quora articles. Greg’s siblings all remember him as someone who always saw the good in people.  He always sought out the potential in everyone he knew.  He never lost hope in anyone. Greg is survived by his wife, Lynda Helfend and his son Alex Wodark.  Also, his mother Barbara Hirth and his siblings, Doug Wodark, Jim Wodark and Suzanne Sanderson.  He is preceded in death by his son Nicholas Wodark and his father, Ted Wodark. Funeral services will be held on March 20, 2021 at San Francisco Solano Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA from 2pm-3:30pm.  More details on the service can be found on his Caring Bridge site at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregwodarkdied Memorial donations can be made to St Michael’s Abbey https://stmichaelsabbey.com/one-time-donation/