Barbara Jean Whiddon Goodwin, 73, of Tifton died Thursday, June 2, 2011, at her residence. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, 2011, at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Chula. Rev. Larry Layfield will officiate with burial to follow in Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Chula. Donald Jones, Larry Thompson, Nip Cromer, Winfred Jones, Van Graves, Lynwood Denham, Wallace Montgomery and Robert North will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Eric Goodwin, Cameron Goodwin, Marty Goodwin and Jay Goodwin. The family will receive friends on Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. The body will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service.
Mrs. Goodwin was born on July 19, 1937 in Tift County and was the daughter of Roswell Lee Whiddon and Mary Lou Jordan Whiddon, both deceased. She was a librarian at the Tift County Public Library for over 40 years, where she started out driving the Bookmobile to different counties. She supervised student workers, circulation, and repairing books. Co-workers have stated that she was the “hardest working, most honest person they’ve ever met”.
She was a lifelong member of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Chula, where she served as the Sunday school secretary and was an active member of Women’s Ministry Union. She was a member of Woodmen of the World Lodge 144. She graduated from Tift County High School in 1955 and attended monthly meetings for the Class of 1955 reunions. She and her husband have resided at 2311 Whiddon Mill Road since 1964, over 37 years.
She was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, who was loved and greatly admired by all who knew her for the love that she showed and the deeds that she did and for her support to others throughout her entire life. She was an amazing grandmother. She always tried to do her best to show her grandchildren right from wrong. She always let them know she loved them. She tried to be at all their events, whether it was a sports event or a band event, or an awards ceremony. She would always try to be there to see her grandbabies do their best. She also enjoyed going to Savannah to visit her grandkids who lived there. She was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. She loved to bargain shop, cook (especially her carrot cakes), take pictures and videos, but she loved to be with her family and friends the most. She was a family woman. She also loved to sing and fish.
Mrs. Goodwin is survived by her husband of 52 years, Carl Grady Goodwin of Tifton; one son and daughter-in-law, Joel Dee and Kristin Nease Goodwin of Savannah; one daughter and son-in-law, Sonya Carlisa Goodwin Woods and her husband, Darrell Kenneth Woods, of Tifton; one brother, Donald Gerald Whiddon of Chula; one sister, Melba Lou Whiddon of Chula; five grandchildren, who she loved reading to and teaching, Heather Alanna Woods, Joshua Ryan Woods, Hannah Kelsey Woods, Hunter Colby Goodwin and Abigail Madison Goodwin; and one great-grandson, Westley Payton Tawzer, who is 4 years old.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Mount Zion Baptist Church, 293 Mount Zion Church Road, Chula, GA 31733.