Cecil Adair Godman's Obituary
Cecil A. Godman, Jr. passed away peacefully surrounded by family & friends on Wednesday evening.Cecil was born October 7, 1926, on his mother’s 20th birthday, to Cecil Sr and Hazel Godman at Baptist Hospital in Memphis. He attended Central High School, graduating in 1944, and then proceeded to serve in the Army during WWII. He taught hand-to-hand fighting techniques to the Army Rangers at Fort Benning. After his discharge in November 1946 he returned to Memphis. In the summer of 1947 he headed West to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) to pursue a degree in Animal Husbandry, which later evolved to Agriculture Management.Cecil returned to Memphis in late 1950 and became a County Agent for Shelby County. The next couple of years would yield many opportunities for him including meeting his future wife, Virginia Carolyn Stovall. The two were married on November 24, 1951. They continued to live in Memphis for the rest of their lives together until Carolyn went to be with the Lord on January 24, 1998.Cecil was an avid researcher and was known to delve deeply into whatever his passion or hobby was, focused on Memphis and Memphis related history. A lasting love of Cecil’s was roses & his rose garden. From the late 1960s he would toil in the back yard with what grew into a collection of over 400 rose bushes from all over the world. One of his proudest moments was during September 1971 when one of Cecil’s entry’s won “Queen of the Show” for his Princess Margaret of England bloom for the National Rose Show hosted at the Peabody Hotel. He went on to show roses for another 45 years, winning many awards for various areas of presentations. Cecil turned his love of roses into a business including running a greenhouse and building custom rose gardens for homes around the Mid-South. He remained active in this business until almost 80 years old. He also worked his love of antiques into his career by managing Gentlemen’s Antique Shop until about 8 years ago.He is survived by his son, Cecil Godman III (Summer), granddaughter Becca Godman, his brother Raymond Godman (Jane), cousin Jim Russell (June) of Hot Springs, AR, niece Allison Ricketts (Greg), grandnephew Christopher Ricketts, grandniece Ashleigh Ricketts, niece Ginger Whitworth (Rick), his sister-in-law Patsy McWherter of Union City, TN, niece Beverly McWherter McLendon, nephew David McWherter of Rives, TN, and nephew Joe McWherter of Olive Branch.Memorial Park Funeral Home is in charge. Visitation will be on Sunday, December 18th from 3 pm -5 pm with service at 11:30 am on December 19th at the Memorial Park Chapel. Memorials can be made to Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab, JDRF of West Tennessee or the charity of the donor’s choice.Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis TN 38119. (901) 767-8930. “Celebrating Life….Behind the Stone Wall.”
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