Barbara Butler Goldsmith

Barbara Butler Goldsmith passed away peacefully in the early morning hours on Monday, March 21st in her home on Nancy Creek Road, in the house in which she was born. She was surrounded by her family who sang her hymns and prayed for her as she joined her Savior in eternity. She was born Barbara Dale Butler, the only child of her loving parents, William Edward Butler, Jr. and Rachel Moselle Burrus on October 27th, 1938. Her childhood was spent riding horses on the dirt roads of Buckhead and traveling to horse shows across the southeast. She became an accomplished equestrian and continued showing and jumping competitively into her 70s. She attended Northside High School and then headed to University of Tennessee, where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. In the midst of her college years, she was swept away by a young Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Jere, at Georgia Tech as he jitter-bugged with her. She married Jere Goldsmith on Friday night, November 29, 1957, the night before the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game because Barbara did not want a lot of drunk college guys at her wedding. Over the course of her 58 years of marriage to her beloved Jere, they had three children, Jere, Elizabeth, and Glenn. The first two were born within two years of their marriage, and Glenn came along fourteen years later. They also welcomed dozens of horses, cats, dogs, and a pet squirrel into their home and the barn in the backyard. Barbara was a lifelong member of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church where she committed her life to Christ at the age of ten. She had wonderful Sunday School teachers throughout high school. After marrying, she began teaching the youth at church and later became involved in the Singles Ministry at SPdL. She loved this leadership position, seeing young people meet, marry and begin families. She felt that many were like her children. She also became involved in driving the youth to the inner city to interact with the children there. In the early 70s this inner city ministry, located in the Grant Park area, turned into a feeding ministry. As there was a food shortage at that time, a group of women, including Barbara, worked alongside inner-city missionary Louise Adamson, feeding the homeless on every third Wednesday during the school year. That ministry continues until this day. Barbara has been known as the ‘spaghetti’ lady for more than 40 years. At Second-Ponce, she was one of the first women deacons, a member of the missions’ committee and the WMU and countless other groups at her beloved church. Her own three children received a wonderful background at Second-Ponce, also with devoted teachers and Barbara loved attending their youth choir concerts throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. Barbara was a member of the Junior League where she served at the Speech School, the Children’s Healthcare and was active in lobbying for the creation of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. She also chauffeured the Russian gymnastics team during the 1996 Summer Olympics. Barbara’s lifelong love was horses and she spent twenty-five years teaching horseback riding to hundreds of young people. She enjoyed helping each one reach his or her potential and gain confidence in themselves, including her daughter, Elizabeth. Barbara was considered a mentor to these, her many ‘children.’ When Elizabeth left for college, Barbara started showing horses again and continued until she was seventy years old. Even with all of her church and community involvement, she still prioritized her children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren, as well as her daughters-in-law and son-in-law, enthusiastically supporting their many endeavors. Barbara was predeceased by her parents. She is survived by her husband, Jere Wickliffe Goldsmith IV, her children and their spouses, Jere Wickliffe Goldsmith V and Mary Chandler Goldsmith, Elizabeth Goldsmith Musser and Paul Alan Musser, Glenn Edward Goldsmith and Kimberley Gartrell Goldsmith; her eight grandchildren: Andrew Musser and his wife Lacy Musser, Chris Musser, Katie Goldsmith, Chip (Jere, the 6th) Goldsmith, Chandler Goldsmith, Will Goldsmith, Peter Goldsmith and Jonathan Goldsmith; and her great-grandchildren, Jesse Musser, Nadja’Lyn Musser and Quinn Musser. A memorial service celebrating Barbara’s life will be held at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, 2715 Peachtree Rd. N. E., Atlanta, GA 30305, on Thursday, March 24th at eleven o'clock in the morning. The family will greet friends in the Fellowship Hall at Second-Ponce following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent for Home Missions to Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, or to International Teams—for the ministry of Paul and Elizabeth Musser: www.iteams.us or to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—for the ministry of Glenn and Kim Goldsmith: intervarsity.org. Online Condolences may be made at www.hmpattersonarlington.com.