PEMBROKE — Ruth Dial Woods, a highly respected activist, retired educator, former associate superintendent of the Public Schools of Robeson County and former interim administrator for the Lumbee Tribal Government, died Thursday.

Woods, who had been in declining health, was 86.

“She was a giant of a human being. She was phenomenal. She was extraordinary,” said her lifetime friend, Barbara Braveboy-Locklear of Ocean Isle Beach.

The two had worked briefly together in the area of American Indian education in the Public Schools of Robeson County.

“She was director of that program. It was a government program,” Braveboy-Locklear said on Friday afternoon.

“She was the epitome of an educational leader,” she said. “First of all, she was absolutely brilliant when it came to intelligence. Everybody knew that. She was an unassuming woman. She just had a countenance and presence about her.”

On Friday, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina stated, “It is with great sadness that we share that Dr. Ruth Dial Woods has passed away after a life of service as an educator and an activist. In 2001, Dr. Woods served as the first Tribal Administrator for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She served alongside Chairman Milton Hunt.

“Dr. Woods was a trailblazer,” the tribe stated in an email, “who impacted the lives of Native People around the nation, but especially children. She was instrumental in establishing the Indian Education program for Robeson County Schools and helped to lay the foundation for the program nationwide.”

Noah Woods, who is 49, is one of three Woods’ children still living. A middle sister passed away.

“She accomplished more than I ever imagined,” he said Monday moring. “Growing up, I was constantly watching her work. Working on grants and other things. All this research I’ve done the last couple of days, Mom — her first priority — was to help others. She wanted the needs of others before her own.”

She was blessed with wisdom.

Noah Woods found this quote on a sticky note on her office desk over the weekend: “Everybody that’s riding with you ain’t riding for you. Let the gas run out and see who helps you push.”

On its Facebook page, the school system wrote:

“Please join us in honoring the legacy of Dr. Ruth Dial Woods, a longtime educator, former assistant superintendent and devoted advocate who spent her life working to better the lives of others. We ask the community to join us in prayer for her family as they navigate this difficult time of loss.”

Woods was born in 1938 in Robeson County, according to historical online accounts. She grew up on the farm of her maternal grandparents. Both her parents, the accounts say, were educators.

Woods, who was Lumbee, graduated from Pembroke High School in 1952 before attending Meredith College in Raleigh.

During the 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement, the women’s movement and the American Indian movement.

Woods became a founding member of the Lumbee Regional Development Association and worked with the tribal government to create programs to meet the educational, political and socio-economic needs of her fellow people, online articles state.

“So many children learned from her dedication and work,” Braveboy-Locklear said. “She was a big church leader, too.”

In 1985, she became the first woman to receive an at-large appointment to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

In 2011, Woods was inducted into the N.C. Women’s Hall of Fame.

“She was known statewide,” Braveboy-Locklear said. “And young people knew her, too. This is not an understatement. Everybody knew who Ruth Dial was for her public service.”

The visitation will be held at 1 p.m., followed by the funeral at 2 p.m., with both set for the First Methodist Church, 101 Breece St., in Pembroke.

Woods will be laid to rest at the Lumbee Memorial Gardens.