Goodman turns 100
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Patricia Gilbert Goodson (seated front) enjoyed celebrating her 100th birthday with family, from left great-granddaughter Zoe Couston; grandsons Steve Couston and Michael Goodman; son, Jeff Goodman; son-in-law Jim Couston (seated); daughter Elise; daughter-in-law Teresa Goodman; Teresa’s father, Ed Falco; and Patricia’s granddaughter, Amanda Mise. - Tammy Cheek
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Patricia Gilbert Goodson, right, shared a photographic moment with her older sister, Perle Mandiberg, who would later die in an automobile accident. - Tammy Cheek
Family and friends joined Patricia Gilbert Goodman when she celebrated her 100th birthday Wednesday, June 17, at NHC Farragut.
When asked how she felt about turning 100, Patricia simply responded, “Oh, OK.”
For her family, though, she was an inspirer, mentor and supporter. She is the mother of Elise Goodman Couston and Jeff Goodman; grandmother of Amanda Mize and Michael and Steve Goodman; great-grandmother of 11; and great-great-grandmother of four, as well as a daughter-in-law Teresa Goodman and son-in-law, Jim Couston.
“She’s an unbelievable mom,” Elise Couston said. “She encouraged you to be the best that you could possibly be. She was very encouraging, and she always wanted you to be the best person you could possibly be and to work hard and to make something of yourself.
“I attribute a lot of my success to my mom,” the daughter said.
“She was a great mother-in-law, especially in raising the kids,” said Jeff’s wife, Teresa. “She really helped us with everything. We traveled together; we did a lot together; and she was the best mother-in-law.”
For her grandchildren, Amanda and Michael, Patricia, “she always had great advice,” Amanda said.
“She didn’t take any crap,” Michael added. “She didn’t mince words.”
“That’s an understatement,” Amanda retorted. However, “[Patricia] babied [Michael],” the granddaughter said.
Yet, “when it came to raising my kids, she was the first person I called for help,” the granddaughter said.
And, “she inspired me to pursue my goals,” Michael added.
Patricia was born on June 17, 1926, to Charles and Rene Gilbert in New York City, and the younger sister to the late Perle.
“She said she was born on the kitchen table,” Couston related.
“She and her parents moved from New York City to Los Angeles, California, because of my grandfather’s business,” the daughter said. “She went to UCLA, and she met my father there. They got married and had two kids. Then, my parents got divorced.”
In the meantime, Patricia’s parents moved to Glencoe, a lakefront village on Chicago’s North Shore, Illinois, when her father’s business moved him to Illinois.
“So, my mom moved my brother, Jeff, and I to Glencoe so she had the support of her parents,” said Couston, who lived in Los Angeles until the fifth grade before being moved to Glencoe in 1960.
While Couston still lives in Glencoe, her brother attended Berkeley University, where he earned his undergraduate degree and became a nuclear engineer. His career would lead him to Oak Ridge National Laboratories and East Tennessee.
“He’s been there a long time,” she added.
During those years, Patricia was encouraged to work for the Department of Children and Family Services in Lake County, Illinois, where she served for 40 years.
“She was very active and very well-known and was a huge advocate for educating children and taking good care of them,” Couston said of Patricia. “It was a huge part of her life.”
When she retired, her accomplishments were recognized with a wooden plaque.
“She started doing that in 1961 and she retired in 1991,” Couston said. “She started as a preschool teacher, when we lived on Los Angeles.”
When she moved her family to Chicago, “her father encouraged her to get a job with the Department of Children and Family Services because he thought it would give her a long career,” Couston said.
“[Patricia] went back to school at night and finished her four-year college degree while raising two kids, and got promoted,” Jeff said. “Over the span of her career, she worked her way up from the entry-level position … to director level.”
“She was the head of licensing for all of Lake County, Illinois,” Elise added.
“That was unheard of in those days,” Jeff said. “A single mom, two kids, working … she didn’t get that by being a shrinking violet. She’s tough.”
While Patricia now lives in Farragut, “she still has her condo in Highland Park,” the daughter said of her mother. “She used to come down [to Tennessee] through the winters.
“She would come down here, after my birthday, in mid-January, stay with Jeff and [his wife] Teresa, and then she would come back the first of March,” Couston said.
In 2022, “she came down here for the winter, and she decided she didn’t want to go back,” the daughter said. “So she stayed here.”
