Roxanna Othelia Reed Goodman

The handcart pioneer's granddaughter

Roxanna's mother, Louisa Sheen, had emigrated from England in 1856 aboard the ship Enoch Train. Louisa was part of the first handcart company that walked from Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley. On the journey, Louisa's sister Emma died and was buried on the plains. The crossing took six weeks. Louisa survived and eventually settled in St. David, Arizona, where she married Heber C. Reed. Roxanna was their fifth child, born on October 25, 1875.

Marriage and St. David (1893-1906)

On February 13, 1893, Roxanna married George Edward Goodman at the home of her parents. Justice of the Peace J.A. McRae presided. "They had a big wedding."

Their first child, Iva Othelia, was born on December 19, 1893. Their eldest son, George Nicholas, followed on September 5, 1895. Eight children in all: six born in St. David and two after the family moved to Safford.

On March 9, 1897, the family was sealed by a visiting apostle. Arizona had no temple, and the nearest one in Utah was a multi-day journey. The apostle's circuit through the territory was the only way for rural families to receive the ordinance.

The move to Safford

In 1906, George Edward loaded the family into a wagon, gathered the cattle, and headed north to the Gila Valley. The journey from St. David to Safford took four to five days, driving cattle the entire way.

They bought a home from Mamie Wish for $500 in June 1908, at 407 Second Avenue, Safford. George went to work at George Jacobsen's lumberyard (later J.D. Hallsted Lumber), where he would stay for thirty-two years.

Domestic life

Thelma Goodman Malloy, born January 3, 1909, was Roxanna's youngest daughter. Thelma recalled that she got her name because her older sister Iva "had just finished reading the book Thelma" and liked the sound of it.

The household was open. Roxanna fed tramps, boarders, and neighbors without distinction. Thelma recalled: "Mother never turned a tramp from the door. We used to tease her about it, saying they all knew where to come for food."

The family kept a garden, canned fruit, made preserves, and drew water from a well. The rhythms were seasonal: planting and harvest, church on Sundays, and the occasional trip to Mesa to see George Nicholas and Clara at the pharmacy.

The first loss

On July 22, 1924, Roxanna's son George Nicholas and his wife Clara had a baby girl, Marjorie Louise. Seventeen days later, on August 8, 1924, Marjorie died. She was the first death among Roxanna's children or grandchildren. The life sketch records the date without commentary to explain the cause.

On May 28, 1928, George Edward and Roxanna traveled to Mesa to work in the Arizona Temple. George and Clara (their son George Nicholas and his wife Clara Platt Goodman) were sealed at the temple on the same day.

Illness and death

In 1931, Roxanna underwent surgery for a goiter in Phoenix. The surgery was not fully successful. She gradually lost her sight, then her ability to walk, speak, and feed herself. George cared for her without complaint. The family sketch records simply that he "was faithful and considerate of her."

Roxanna Othelia Reed Goodman died on May 31, 1933, at 407 Second Avenue, Safford. She was fifty-seven years old.

At her funeral, Spencer W. Kimball sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord." Kimball was then serving as a local church leader in the Gila Valley. He would go on to become the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1973. At the time of the funeral, he was simply a neighbor who could sing.

George Edward survived Roxanna by nineteen years. On September 18, 1936, he married Louisa Ann Reed Goodman, the widow of William G. Goodman. He led the Goodman Family Organization as president from 1936 until his own death on February 25, 1952.