Gerald L Goodson

ROCKY HEAD COMMUNITY… Mr. Gerald L. Goodson, a resident of the Rocky Head Community, near Ariton, died late Thursday evening, April 11, 2024, at his home surrounded by his loving family. He was 86.

            Funeral services will be held at 3:30 P.M. Sunday, April 14, 2024, in the Rocky Head Baptist Church with Reverend Joe Underwood, Chaplain Adam Mulliner, and Reverend Jeff Downing officiating. Burial will follow in Mt. Olive Cemetery. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements. The family will receive friends from 1:30 until 3:30 P.M. on Sunday at the church.

            Mr. Goodson was born in Ozark on June 19, 1937, and has lived in the Rocky Head Community most of his lifetime. Following high school, he joined the United States Army and was fortunate enough to be on the Army ball team in Germany and work in the Engineering Department and Heavy Equipment Services. Following his military service, he returned home and worked with B.F. Williams Construction Company in Ozark. Mr. Goodson also worked with the Dale County Road & Bridge Department for many years and retired from the Dale County School System as the Bus Mechanic Supervisor. He had a passion to have all the students of Dale County travel to and from school safely. 

            Mr. Goodson was instrumental in starting Peewee Football and Little League Baseball in Ariton so his boys could participate in sports. He spent many hours traveling to coach and watch his boys play. Mr. Goodson also enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and taking them to Disney World and on trips to the mountains every year when they were young. He was all four grandchildren’s “biggest fan”. “Pawpaw”, as he was known to the grandchildren, loved to watch his kids and grandkids play sports and now watching them coach. Mr. Goodson enjoyed fishing in his pond, Lake Eufaula, and St. John’s River in Florida. A big part of his time was spent doing what he loved with his bulldozer business. He enjoyed turning land into something usable for families and their needs. In the last years, he enjoyed riding to see places he had worked and taking his chair to watch the grandchildren coach and the great grandchildren play sports. Mr. Goodson was a member of the Rocky Head Baptist Church where he served as a Deacon, Sunday school teacher, served on various committees, Royal Ambassador’s, and Chairman of the Mt. Olive Cemetery committee. He was preceded in death by his parents, LB (Tate) and Leona Rachel Goodson, sister, Glennie Ruth Sitz, and two brothers, Kenneth “Pete” Goodson and wife, Gladys and Shorty Goodson.

            Surviving relative include his wife of sixty-four years, Kathryn Hughes Goodson, Rocky Head Community; two sons, Jerry Goodson (Karen) and Terry Goodson (Caren), all of Ariton; sister, Shirley Boose, Ozark; brother, Billy Goodson (Glenda), Ariton; sister-in-law, Betty Hughes, Ariton; four grandchildren, Clair Goodson, Kala Goodson, Haley Barefoot (Stetson), and Brett Goodson; great-grandchildren, Duke, Cameron, and Mary Jo.

            Serving as active pallbearers will be Larry Goodson, Byron Goodson, Ron Goodson, Robin Bell, Greg Boose, Mark Boose, Stetson Barefoot, and Steve Underwood.           

            The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of Community Hospice for their loving care and kindness to Mr. Goodson and his family during this time.