John Gardner Golding

1928 - 2022

John Gardner Golding
July 24, 1928 - November 11, 2022
Charlotte, North Carolina - John Gardner Golding, 94, died peacefully on Friday, November 11, 2022 at Southminster Retirement Community in Charlotte, NC. John was born the middle child of Robert and Antoinette Golding on July 24, 1928, in Evanston, IL. He grew up in Lake Forest, IL and Tryon, NC.
John attended Lake Forest Country Day School and graduated as valedictorian from Asheville School in 1946. He graduated Cum Laude from Williams College in 1950. At Williams he majored in Political Economics, was a member of the Garfield Club, and earned the Purple Key.
In 1953 John graduated second in his class from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he also served as co-editor-in-chief of the North Carolina Law Review. Also, while in law school John met his future wife Virginia Batte Wilson, an undergraduate involved in the Carolina Playmakers. They met when she played the part of a coed who had poisoned a sorority sister in a staged crime, and he was assigned to prosecute her in a mock trial sponsored by his law fraternity.
Following law school, John attended Judge Advocate General's School at the University of Virginia and was appointed First Lieutenant in the JAG Corps of the United States Army.
John and Virginia married in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 14, 1954. They spent the first two and a half years of their marriage in Kaiserslautern, Germany while John served in the JAG. Their daughter Kathleen was born there in 1956.
Following his military service John and Virginia settled in Charlotte, where he joined the law firm Carpenter, Webb, and Golding (later Golding, Crews, Meekins, Gordon, and Gray).
John and Virginia's family grew with the birth of Teresa (Resi) in 1958 and Jeanne in 1965.
John was a highly successful trial lawyer, specializing in medical malpractice defense work. Opposing counsel somewhat fondly nicknamed him "The Prince of Darkness" and "Mr. Assassinator."
John was a member of the NC Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar Association (President 1975-76), the NC State Bar, the Association of Insurance Attorneys, the NC Association of Defense Attorneys (Director, 1978-80; President 1983-84), and the American Society of Hospital Attorneys; and he was a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (1989). He was also recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Civil Litigation.
In addition to practicing law, John enjoyed his involvement in the Myers Park United Methodist Church choir, as President and a member of the Charlotte Oratorio Singers, and in numerous community theater productions of The Music Man. John was a great lover of animals, a Rolls Royce aficionado, a frequent international traveler, a history buff, and a very proud grandfather who loved to take his grandchildren to Carowinds and the Lazy 5 Ranch, pull them on the Ski Bob on Lake Norman, and treat them for special dinners at Demetrios and the Rheinland Haus.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister Roberta Barber; his brother James Golding; his infant granddaughter Elizabeth Roberts, his daughter Resi Roberts, who died of ALS, and his wife Virginia.
John is survived by daughters Kathleen Golding Boyce (Richard) of Belmont, NC, and Jeanne Golding Cambo (Gilles) of La Ciotat, France, son-in-law Jon Roberts (Heather) of East Greenwich, RI; and grandchildren and spouses Laura Boyce (Jeff Barg), Sarah Boyce (Michael Goldsticker), Virginia Boyce, Caroline Boyce, Jonathan Roberts (Emily), Patrick Roberts (Lindsey), Katherine Sorin (William), Tyler Grant, Alex Cambo, and Claire Cambo. In addition, he is survived by great-grandchildren: Sofia Silva, Will and Charlie Goldsticker, Julian Barg, Elizabeth Roberts, and James Sorin and many nieces and nephews.
John's family will be forever grateful for the wonderful care he received at Southminster. We hope all of the administrators, medical staff, nurses, aides, and therapists know how thankful we are for the attention and affection they provided and especially for appreciating John's unique sense of humor.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 19th at 11:00am at First Presbyterian Church of Belmont, with a time to speak to the family in the Gathering Space immediately following the service. An additional celebration will be held at Southminster at 4:00pm the same day.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The ALS Association North Carolina Chapter, 4 N Blount St. #200, Raleigh, NC, 27601 or to Missions Committee, First Presbyterian Church of Belmont, 102 South Central Avenue, Belmont, NC 28012.
Condolence messages may be shared at www.McLeanFuneral.com.
McLean Funeral Directors of Belmont assisted the family of Mr. Golding.