Austin Goode

GOODE, Austin Clay, 92, of Bedford, Va., and formerly of Dillwyn, Va., died Sunday, May 9, 2010 at the Elks National Home, Bedford, Va. Born March 12, 1918 in Huddleston, Va., he was a son of the late Ira Clay Goode and Hinda Austin Goode. In addition to his parents, Austin was preceded in death by his sister, Marie and her husband, Earl Hobbs; and two sisters-in-law, Betty Goode and Louise Goode. Austin was a member of the National Guard, Company "A," 116th Infantry, 29th Division. He was transferred to the 318th Infantry, 80th Division, and served in the European Theatre under the command of General George S. Patton. He was the plant manager of Burruss Land and Lumber Company, Inc. In 1987, he retired as plant manager of Buffalo Wood Products, a division of the Kyanite Mining Corporation. Austin was a former member of Bethesda Methodist Church, Huddleston, and he later joined the First Baptist Church in Dillwyn, Va., where he served as church treasurer, deacon, trustee and Sunday school teacher. Austin is survived by his wife, Dorothy Wilkes Goode, whom he married on September 5, 1943, in Pickens, South Carolina; two daughters, Linda G. Heath and her husband, Charles, of Stephens City, Va., Mary Clay Mongold and her husband, Vernon, of Moorefield, W.Va.; a son, John A. Goode and his wife, Patricia, of Blackstone, Va.; three brothers, Joseph Edward Goode of Bedford, Va., William Davis Goode and his wife, Polly, of Radford, Va., and Maurice Benjamin Goode and his wife, Gertie-Mae, of Huddleston, Va.; five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dillwyn First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 32, Dillwyn, Va. 23936, or the Special Care Unit, Elks National Home, 931 Ashland Avenue, Bedford, Va. 24523. A funeral service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at Tharp Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Jimmy Dunn officiating. Interment will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by American Legion Post 16 of Lynchburg. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Bedford, (540)-586-3443. To send condolences online, please visit www.tharpfuneralhome.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.