Grace Cavenaugh Goldsmith

1919 - 2015

Grace Cavenaugh Goldsmith left this life on Monday, June 8, 2015, at the age of 95. Service: A service of worship in her memory will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, led by her ministers and the chaplain of Trinity Terrace Retirement Center. A reception will be follow in the concourse of the Great Hall. Memorials: Gifts in her memory may be given to the Presbyterian Night Shelter; Cottey College (P.E.O. affiliate); Trinity Terrace Foundation; First Presbyterian Church History Committee; or a charity of choice. Grace was born in Duplin County, N.C., on Sept. 8, 1919. She graduated from Chinquapin (North Carolina) High School and the Richmond College of Business in Richmond, Va. She was then bookkeeper and office manager for the Gunn-Ellis Wholesale Grocery Co. She met her husband-to-be, Dan, at Highland Park Presbyterian Church of Richmond where Dan was teaching a Bible class attended by Grace's aunt and uncle. They were married May 11, 1943, and had been married 72 years at the time of her death. Grace was a devoted wife and a beloved minister's wife in all the places they served Presbyterian congregations or organizations: Abbeville, La.; New Orleans, La.; Texarkana, Texas; Mount Pleasant; and Fort Worth. Grace was an active member of the Fort Worth Woman's Club and numerous other organizations and served several times as president of the Afternoon Rejebian Book Club, Chapter DL of P.E.O., and served as chair of the Fort Worth Area P.E.O. Council. She was active in the Presbyterian congregations of which she was a member, serving as a Bible leader in her Presbyterian Woman's organization, a teacher in the children's department of the church school, and was a district trainer for new curriculum. She was the recipient of an honorary life membership by Presbyterian Woman. She was a counselor at the first Senior High Youth Conference at Presbyterian Mo-Ranch near Kerrville. She and her husband, Dan, enjoyed traveling in the United States and around the world. They visited 34 countries and served as tour hosts for a travel agency on many of their trips. They touched almost all of the states, including Alaska and Hawaii, but the Rocky Mountains and the Smoky Mountains were the favorites in the States and the Holy Land and Egypt were the over-all favorites! They planned and hosted numerous trips for the Beacons, the senior group of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth. The family wishes to express appreciation to the staff of Trinity Terrace Medical Center and to the members of the Vitas Hospice Team who efficiently cared for Grace in her last months. Survivors: Her husband, the Rev. Dan Elliott Goldsmith; son, Dan Jr. and his wife, Kerry; granddaughters, Wendy Ingrum and Suzy Sera Jose and her husband, Andy; great-grandchildren, Amber Ingrum, Daniel Ingrum, Julian Sera Jose and Zoe Ella Sera Jose; sisters, Mary Piner, Arline Rhodes, and Ernestine Manning and her husband, Ruffin; and many treasured nieces and nephews.