Mrs. Martha Elizabeth Goddard Mitchell

Mrs. Martha Elizabeth Goddard Mitchell, age 85, of 482 E. Tugalo Street, Toccoa, passed away Tuesday, November 22, 2022, at Stephens County Hospital.

 

A daughter of the late Volney and Elizabeth Graham Goddard, she was born August 28, 1937, in Birmingham, Alabama, although she lived most of her childhood in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where she graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1955. She attended Salem College in Winston Salem, North Carolina, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1959. She moved to Toccoa in 1959 to teach music at Toccoa Elementary. Later, she took classes at the University of Georgia and North Georgia College to earn a degree in Special Education. She taught special education classes at Toccoa Elementary and Eastanollee Elementary until her retirement from the Stephens County School System in 2003. She was an active member of First Baptist Church in Toccoa where she taught both children and adult Sunday school classes, sang in the Sanctuary Choir, taught children’s choir, and served on numerous committees. In 2005, she was selected First Baptist’s Churchwoman of the Year. She was a former member of the Toccoa Woman’s Junior Club and was named Mother of the Year in 1988. She was a former member of the Friends of the Library and served as treasurer of that organization for many years. She served as chairman of the building committee of the Toccoa/Stephens County Library. She was a former member and past president of Toccoa’s Cotillion Club. She was a lifetime member of the Toccoa/Stephens County Historical Society and was serving on the board at the time that Camp Toccoa at Currahee was incorporated. She was honored as Active Senior of Toccoa in 2016. She was an active member of the Toccoa Woman’s Literary Club. She was a member of the Pilot Club of Toccoa for over 25 years. She served as president of the Pilot Club of Toccoa and served one year as the Lt. Governor for the NE Region of the Georgia District. She taught private piano lessons in her home for many years. A lifelong learner, she was an avid reader who loved reading books from many different genres. A gifted storyteller, she never passed up an opportunity to entertain others with stories from her life. She passionately loved her God, her family, her church, her community, and her country. She was preceded in death by her husband, Van Mitchell, her sister, Susan Goddard, her brother, Volney Goddard, Jr., and her son-in-law, Dr. Mark Ivester.

 

Survivors include her children, John (Renee) Mitchell of Mason, Ohio; Susan (Chip) Miller of Atlanta, Georgia; Eleanor Ivester of Toccoa; Ann (Philip) Hunt of Toccoa; and Jean (Joey) Nimmer of Easley, South Carolina. She is also survived by her grandchildren Madison Mitchell, Audrey Miller, Russell Miller, Andrew (Marissa) Ivester, Josh (Shelby) Ivester, Nathan Ivester, Marissa (Hayden) Dillard, Katherine (Clay) Young, Tyler Hunt, Micah Hunt, Stephen Nimmer, Ben Nimmer, Mitch Nimmer, Sam Nimmer; her great grandchildren, Emery Ivester, Olivia Ivester, Lucas Ivester, Lilly Ivester, and by her brother Graham Goddard of Rockwood, Tennessee.

 

Her funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, November 30, at the First Baptist Church of Toccoa with the Reverend David Ritcey and the Reverend Andrew Ivester officiating. The family will receive friends in the Chapel of First Baptist Church from 12:30 PM until the time of the service. Her grandsons will serve as pallbearers with the Journey Sunday School Class and the Pilot Club of Toccoa serving as Honorary Escort. A graveside service will be held immediately after at Stephens Memorial Gardens with the Reverend John Mitchell and the Reverend Brett Sanders officiating.

 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her memory to the General Fund of the First Baptist Church of Toccoa, Friends of the Toccoa/Stephens County Library, or the Toccoa/Stephens County Historical Society.

 

Acree-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of the arrangements for Mrs. Martha Elizabeth Goddard Mitchell.