Obituary of Edith Rankin Goff

Edith Rankin Goff, 99, departed this earthly life on May 6, 2017 at Snyder Nursing Home in Salem, VA, where she has lived for the last year and a half.

Born to Monalee Allison Rankin and George H. Rankin on February 16, 1918 in Tamassee, SC, she attended Tamassee DAR School, then Erskine College in Due West, SC. After graduation she began a lifelong teaching career. She truly loved teaching and her students, commenting that she never let other teachers “warn” her about troublemakers in her incoming classes. Every student got a fresh start in her class!  During her early years spent teaching English and French, class size was limited only by the number of desks they could squeeze in! Often she taught up to 36 students in each class. With six classes a day, she brought home mountains of papers to grade! Her later years were spent teaching middle school math in Leesburg, Florida. She finally retired at 70 having had only a five-year break from teaching during the early childhood of her only child. After retirement she volunteered at her local hospital and in the library of New Life Presbyterian Church in Leesburg until she moved in 1999 to Knollwood Apartments (Richfield) in Salem, VA, to be closer to her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

At 97 a second stroke necessitated her leaving her much-loved apartment for Snyder Nursing Home, also in Salem. Arriving in the parking lot there, she said happily that the ferns on the porch were just like the ones her mother had had at home in Tamassee! The staff there came to love her and have said they will miss her kindness and sweet spirit.

Edith is survived by her daughter, Vicki Meyer, son-in-law, Ed Meyer, and grandchildren Joshua and Mercy Meyer of Craig County, VA. She is also survived, and much loved, by :

grandson, Phillip Gullion and his wife Li-Ann Kuan, of Baltimore and great-granddaughters Kaitlyn and Meghan

grandson, Eli Meyer and his wife Melissa Meyer and great-grandchildren Ethan, Lillian, and Cora Meyer of Monroe, Oregon

 granddaughter, Fairlight Meyer of Roanoke, VA

 grandson Daniel Meyer and his wife Ashley Meyer of Blue Ridge, VA, with great-grandchildren Noah, Nicholas, Alexander, and another due in June,

 granddaughter, Claire Meyer, of St. Louis, MO,

grandson, Samuel Meyer with great-grandson Cayden Meyer, of Roanoke, VA,

 granddaughter, Hannah Meyer, also of Roanoke

 One sister, Beth Ann Goodreau of Duluth, Minnesota, is her only living sibling, as Edith was predeceased by her parents and four siblings, Herbert Rankin, Virginia Rankin Nealy, John J. Rankin, and Julius William Rankin.

She was a special “Aunt Midge” to nieces Sandra and Sharon Rankin of Salem, SC,  and John Rankin of Hendersonville, NC, to whom she opened her home during their childhood.

We will all miss her. Her passing leaves a special place vacant, but we know she is well and whole again in Heaven, reunited with her beloved earthly daddy as well as her Heavenly Father.

Family and friends will gather to celebrate Edith's life at 2:30 PM on May 28 at Calvary Memorial Church, 2226 Colonial Avenue NW, Roanoke, VA. All who knew and loved her are welcome to attend.

Edith's family sends special thanks to the staff at Knollwood, who helped her maintain her cherished independence for so long, and to the staff at Snyder, who gave respectful and loving care to her during her last months on earth.