Ethel Carrie Goecke

GOECKE, Ethel Carrie (Shope), 95, of Brookville, formerly of Beavercreek, Ohio passed away peacefully at Hospice of Dayton on June 7, 2014 to begin her eternal life with the Lord. She was born April 2, 1919, at their family’s farm in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, the ninth of 15 children of Francis James and Laura Belle (Younker) Shope. She graduated from Huntingdon High School, Pennsylvania in 1938. She married Irvin E. Goecke on March 23, 1942. She is survived by three sons, Dennis I. Goecke and his wife, Sharon; Kenneth E. Goecke and his wife, Glessna LeBaron; and David Allen Goecke, and his wife, Belinda; and six grandchildren and three step-grandchildren, Julia Anne Goecke, Dara Carrie Goecke, and her husband, Chris Jenkins, and two children, Austin and Parker; Dennis I. Goecke and his wife, Carmony and their two children, Skyler and Summer; Mark A., James B., Shari L. Goecke, and David LeBaron Lowe and his wife, Miranda. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews, and other relatives. She is survived by two sisters: Virginia (Shope) Morgan & her husband, George; and Ruth Irene (Shope) Grissinger. Ethel was preceded in death by her husband, Irvin Edward Goecke; son, Brian Leslie Goecke, brothers: Walter Daniel Shope, Albert Richard Shope, Nathaniel Hawthorne Shope, Samuel Irvin Shope, Ellsworth David Shope, Miles Edward Shope, Warren Plymire Shope, and Raymond Eugene Shope; Sisters: Clara Arabella (Shope) DeArmitt, Edith Roena (Shope) Richards, Esther Margaret Shope, and Dorothy Mae (Shope) Spriggle. In 1939 Ethel entered training in St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing in Dayton Ohio and graduated in 1942. Ethel began working in the maternity department. During the war, the unit had between 300-400 births month, and it was not unusual to have four deliveries at the same time. Since there were only two delivery rooms, beds were set up in hallways. Ethel experienced many changes and highlights in her 38 years. She became the night supervisor in the maternity department; St. E’s became the first hospital in Dayton and one of only two in Ohio, to initiate family-centered birthing; she wrote the first procedural manual for the maternity department. The last seven years of Ethel’s career were spent as the Assistant Director of Nursing in maternity. She then volunteered in St. E’s Gift Shop for 21 more years until St. Elizabeth Hospital closed.

She was active in St. Luke’s Church. She was a member of Beavercreek Senior Citizen’s Club from 1980 to 2006 where she served as treasurer and trustee. She traveled with them to Hawaii, Bermuda, Tahiti, and Australia. In 2001, she and three retired nurses drove on a 35-day trip out west. In 2006 she moved to Brookville, Ohio to be nearer two of her sons. She continued to volunteer and was very active at The Villas of Brookhaven being the Sunshine Girl for five years. She enjoyed playing cornhole, bridge, and video bowling; she liked to win. She was on the Resident Council. Memorial service 2:30 pm Sunday, June 15, 2014, at the Tobias Funeral Home, Englewood Chapel, 675 W Wenger Rd. Friends may call 1:30 to time of service Sunday at the funeral home. Interment 10 am Monday at Calvary Cemetery, Dayton.