Ann Caroline Gorham Goetz

1939 - 2023

Goetz

Ann Caroline Gorham Goetz (Age 83)

Ann Caroline Gorham Goetz, of Oak Hill, Virginia, passed away in her home on June 29, 2023.



Ann was born on November 12, 1939 to Leonard and Caroline "Kak" Gorham of Alexandria, VA. Her parents were active members of Immanuel Lutheran Church, and she was the 1st student to enroll in the inaugural class at Immanuel Lutheran Church School. She went on to cheerlead for and graduate from George Washington High School in Alexandria, VA in 1957. Ann was an active member of the church Young Peoples' Group, participating in volunteer activities and sports leagues.



While working as a secretary at the Pentagon, Ann met her future husband Major Jerald L. Goetz and they married June 11, 1966 at Immanuel Lutheran Church. They raised their family on Latham Street in Alexandria, and later moved to Oak Hill when Jerry retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Army to work as a nuclear scientist at SAIC.



Ann loved her family and dedicated her life to being a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. While her husband was deployed to Vietnam, she worked as an administrative assistant at the Cameron Station Army Post, maintained her home, and reared her children. She loved playing the piano and inspired her children to play and love music as well. Ann was always up for an adventure, frequently hatching spur-of-the moment trips with her kids to the Shenandoah river, crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay, beach and surf fishing trips to Rehobeth, and making history come alive while relic hunting with her son. Ann could always be counted on to chaperone grade school trips, be a swim meet timer, and drive for Meals on Wheels. She was also a local Bowling and Tennis Champion, which inspired her children's love of sports. She excelled while working in the Admitting Department at Alexandria Hospital and was promoted to Supervisor, which encouraged her to pursue a Nursing degree later in life. One of her greatest joys was working as a Docent in First Ladies Hall at the National History Museum in Washington, DC, where she loved making history come alive for the Museum's visitors.



She had a great love of travel, and took amazing trips to see Germany's castles, Austria's Biergartens, the beaches in Bora Bora and Fiji, and an educational trip to Cuba. She jetted on the Concord, sailed the QE2, and especially cherished trips to her second home on the Big Island of Hawaii.



Ann was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, COL Jerald L. Goetz. She is greatly missed and survived by her children Sheri Kebbel (Dennis), Hon. Debra Carnahan (Russ), Jennifer Goetz, (David Kalinowski), Dr. Liana Goetz (Chris Wible), Darrell Goetz (Page), and her step-daughter Lisa Goetz- Bouknight (Jon). She was also loved and is missed by her eight grandchildren Julia Anna, Arielle, and Christian Kebbel; Austin and Andrew Carnahan; Lydia and Reese Goetz; and Caroline Kalinowski. Also her three step grandchildren Joshua and Jordon Hilber, and Aletheia McCurry; her two great-grandchildren Lillian and Lucas Kebbel; as well as six step great-grandchildren Isabelle, Trystan, and Dylan Hilber; Connor, Piper, and Walker McCurry.



Visitation with the family will be July 13, 2023, 4 to 7 p.m. at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home, 1500 West Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA. The Celebration of Life will also be held at Every Wheatley, 11 a.m. on July 14, with a reception for family and friends to follow at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1801 Russell Road Alexandria, VA 22301.



The family requests that all flowers and remembrances be sent to Everly-Wheatley. Interment will be held on a to-be-determined date at Arlington National Cemetery.