Carmen Goff Woodson

Carmen Elizabeth Goff Woodson died February 17, 2017, after a rapid decline caused by complications from vascular dementia. She was born in Long Beach, California, on May 7, 1938, to James Canty Goff and Hettie Sibley Goff. Her father was a naval helicopter mechanic and her mother was an educator and high school principal. She was an only child and her family moved often for various naval assignments throughout her childhood. She graduated from high school in Pensacola, Florida, where her parents ultimately retired. She obtained her undergraduate degree in English from Emory University, where she developed a deep love for the City of Atlanta and the area surrounding Emory's campus. She went on to earn a Master's degree in English from Vanderbilt University and began to teach high school. She married James H. Woodson, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, and, after the birth of their son, they moved to Atlanta, where their daughter was born and she concentrated on raising her family. After the children were in high school, she went back to Emory University where she earned a nursing degree and began a second career focused mainly on gerontology. She felt strongly about improving the lives of people as they aged and loved both the clinical and theoretical aspects of nursing. After retirement, she met and married Leroy ("Lee") Kostner, who survives her. She is also survived by her son, John G. Woodson, of Atlanta, and her daughter, Laura E. Woodson, of Athens, Lee's children David, Anthony, and Donna Kostner, as well as her beloved cat Churchill, and many close friends and family. Carmen was passionate about many things and was an intellectually curious person throughout her life. She was a great reader who was generous with books and loved to share what she had read with others. She was a knowledgeable and skilled gardener, once designing and creating a white garden modeled after Vita Sackville West's white garden at Sissinghurst in England. She loved to travel and explore new cultures. She twice applied her needlework and design talents to supervising and participating in the enormous needlepoint project for the communion rail kneelers at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, where she was a member since the 1960s. She was a member of the Baron DeKalb Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. A memorial service will be held to celebrate Carmen's life at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 1790 LaVista Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. Reception to follow service. The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made in to your choice of the following: (1) Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University; (2) St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church Flower Guild; (3) WABE.org or your favorite NPR station; or (4) the National Parks Conservation Association.

Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033