Goodwin, Lucy Ann (Phillips) 1840 - 1928

GOODWIN, PHILLIPS, CHESLEY, PALMER, ASKEW, YEAROUS, HOWE, DUFF, FINGE, MCGREGOR

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 4/22/2020 at 22:46:16

Clayton County Register, Thur., 21 June, 1928. Volga City column.

"What a death - A little broaden -
of the ripple
Upon the eternal shore.
A little loosening of the bands that
cripple:
This and nothing more.
What's death - A little parting of
the clouds above us
That hide the sun,
A Golden Vision of the souls that
love us
And labor done."

Lucy Ann Phillips was born Mar. 20, 1840, at Athens, Crawford Co., Penn. When a small child her parents moved to Elgin, Ill., where she received her education. The family afterward moved to Iowa, settling at Volga. At the age of twenty she was married to Norman Chesley, a young attorney who soon afterward died leaving his young widow with three small children. In 1866 she was united in marriage to Frank F. Goodwin of this place who preceded her in death in 1907. Pioneers in this community Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin were among the first in helping to establish a Methodist church in Volga. Mrs. Goodwin has served in almost every office in the church. She was secretary of the First Ladies Aid in Volga. Even during the last years of her life she has taught a Sunday School class and has been active in the services of the church and missionary society. She has labored valiantly beyond the usual allotted life time for the good of the community and her home and church. No task was to great if its results were uplifting. Christianity was more to her than a system of doctrines. It was a life - a great current of memories, beliefs and hopes living in the hearts of her children, her friends and her community. Such a life as Mrs. Goodwin lived gives one confidence in the reality of the power of Christ to transform the lives of men and women. Mrs. Goodwin leaves the following children to mourn her loss: Isa, now Mrs. H. R. Palmer, of Hawkeye, Iowa; Belle, now Mr. C. W. Askew, of Utica, Kansas; Blanche, now Mrs. Will Yearous, of Highland, Iowa; Ernest, of this place; Rhoda, now Mrs. E. E. Howe, of Galesburg, Ill.; Hattie, now Mrs. Robt. Duff, of Highland, Iowa, and whom were present at their mother's funeral except Mrs. Askew. Besides these, one daughter, Grace, passed to the beyond in 1895, leaving three small children who found in grandma Goodwin a mother wise and true and were reared as her own. She also leaves nineteen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren, and one sister, Mrs. Ella Finge, of Volga. Her children have tenderly cared for her during her last illness, and her grandson, Vern McGregor, has been a comfort and help to her. The funeral was held Thursday, June 14, at the Methodist church, conducted by her pastor, Rev. Davies, who paid tribute to Mrs. Goodwin as member and worker in the church. The music rendered by the choir and a solo by Sidney Ainsworth were all in keeping with the impressiveness of the occasion. The floral tributes were many and beautiful. Friends from far and near were in attendance at the funeral. Van Dyke says: "There is no gate to heaven except at the end of the path of duty." In that event the gate swings wide on the morning of the sabbath day, June 10, 1928, to receive the immortal spirit of Mrs. Goodwin, loved mother, loyal Christian and beloved citizen. "The dear Lord's best interpreter are faithful human souls. The gospel of a life like hers is more than books or schools." Interment in Hill Crest Cemetery.