Elizabeth Virginia (Goddard) Goodpasture

Elizabeth Virginia “Ginny” Goddard Goodpasture, following one of her cherished Bible chapters, Psalm 100, entered “His gates with songs of thanksgiving” in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 24, 2012, with two of her beloved children by her bedside in the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, WV. Ginny was born on October 22, 1921, in Dallas, TX, and grew up in Fountain City, TN. After graduating from Tusculum College (Tennessee’s oldest college, founded in 1794) with a double degree in English and Music, she enlisted in the United States Navy, serving as an officer assigned to duty stations in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, coding and decoding military communications during World War II. After the war, she returned to school in Philadelphia to study occupational therapy, a field in which she worked until she married. Ginny met her handsome husband, Jim, a World War II Army veteran, at a party for military troops. They were married in her hometown in August of 1948. Together they raised a family of four children (all born within a 5-year time span), along with numerous dogs and other pets. Jim’s work took the family to Illinois, Georgia, Mexico, and back to Illinois where they bought a home in Glencoe and remained for 32 years. In the latter part of their Glencoe years, Ginny and Jim enjoyed spending time with their three young grandsons. They retired to Sun City, AZ, in 1995, and 10 years later moved to The Meadows at Maplewood in Bridgeport, WV. Jim passed away in 2009 at Saint Barbara’s Memorial Nursing Home in Monongah, WV. In 2011, Ginny moved into the West Virginia Veterans Nursing Facility in Clarksburg, WV. Ginny was a scholar and an accomplished pianist. She helped all four of her children in their musical studies. In the kitchen she embraced the health food trend, always broadening her knowledge about nutrition. Ginny’s creative mind found expression in various other forms of art beyond music including sewing, needlework, drawing, painting, other craft arts, and photography, an interest she shared with Jim during their years of membership with the Fort Dearborn Camera Club (now called “Fort Dearborn-Chicago Photo Forum”). Ginny travelled with her mother, Elva, her sister, Barbara, and her daughter, Jessie, to the United Kingdom to help celebrate the life and sacrifice made by her brother, Lewis, during World War II as a member of a Special Forces Jedburgh team. Ginny was active in the church, serving as the organist at the First Baptist Church in Mexico City and later as the librarian at the Winnetka Bible Church near their home in Glencoe. Ginny’s passion was reading and studying the Bible, an important source of encouragement, joy and peace. Ginny is survived by her daughter Karen Briggs Goodpasture of Jemez Springs, NM; her daughter Jessie Carrol Goodpasture of San Francisco, CA; her son Stuart James Goodpasture of Deerfield, IL, his wife Judy and their three sons Jesse Robert Goodpasture (Second Lieutenant United States Army), Samuel James Goodpasture, and Lewis Goddard Goodpasture; her daughter Nancy Elizabeth Goodpasture of Fairmont, WV; her brother Austin Goddard and his wife Jan; her sister Barbara Goddard; her brother Robert Goddard; numerous cousins, nieces and nephews; grand-dogs Jake, Zeus, Wrigley, and Miss Be; and her angel and friend, Clara Eaton. In addition to her brother, Lewis, Ginny’s parents, Carlyle and Elva Goddard, preceded her in death. A graveside service will be held at noon on Monday, August 27, 2012, at West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton, WV, with Chaplain Johnny Payne presiding. Prior to that service, a film produced by daughter Jessie celebrating their 60+ years of life together as Jim and Ginny Goodpasture, creating homes for themselves and their four children in the US and Mexico, will be shown at 10:00 A.M. at the West Virginia Veterans Nursing Facility in Clarksburg, WV. Family and friends are invited to attend both events. Arrangements are in the care of family friend, Phil Rishel, Herod Funeral Home, 501 Morgantown St., Point Marion, PA 15474 (724/725-5245)

Elizabeth Virginia (Goddard) Goodpasture

October 22, 1921 - August 27, 2012