Elsie Goodson Nicholas

Elsie Goodson Nicholas, 94, of Amelia Island, Florida, and formerly of Valdosta, died on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at her residence. She was born in Valdosta on September 18, 1924 to the late Doc Leonard and Flossie Carruthers Goodson. She attended Valdosta City Schools and graduated from Valdosta High School in 1941. She attended Georgia State Women’s College (VSU) for 2 years and then completed her AB degree at Duke University in 1943. She worked as a Spanish translator for the U.S. office of Censorship in Miami until the end of WWII and then began a career with Eastern, then Skyways Airlines as a flight attendant. Her travels took her to places in South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with a very special trip to Israel. She left her career with the airlines and moved to California and began her teaching career which was to last for the next 37 years. She married Richard E. Nicholas in 1950 and moved to Chicago where she taught elementary school. She then moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where she helped to establish a Baptist Church in Prairie Village, and then on to Miami where Elsie began teaching Spanish at North Miami Senior High School until 1980. She was Department Chairman of the Foreign Language Department and was the first Teacher of the Year chosen from her district in Dade County.
During her years at North Miami, Elsie began taking students for special summer sessions to Monterrey, Mexico and it was there at the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores Monterrey, Mexico that she earned her Master’s degree in Spanish. She attended North Dade Heights Baptist Church and was a Sunday School teacher there. In 1980, Elsie and her family moved back to Valdosta and accepted a position teaching Spanish at her alma mater, Valdosta High. She retired from teaching in 1990. Outside of her career as a teacher, she was also very proud of the work she accomplished in assisting First Baptist Church of Valdosta with the Hispanic Mission, an interest she continued until her health began to decline. She was always most proud of her work with Hispanic Mission and believed it to be one of the most defining times in her life.
She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, David and Connie Nicholas of Callahan, Florida, and Steven and Carol Nicholas of Audubon, Pennsylvania; two daughters, Eileen Decker and Patricia Snape both of Ft. Myers, Florida; her grandchildren and their spouses, Amber and John Bovinette of Callahan, FL, Lisa and Jimmy Lee, of King of Prussia, PA, Sean and Meredith Snape of Little Rock, AR, Dawn Giese of Ft. Myers, FL, and Rick and Cheryl Nicholas of Audubon, PA; great-grandchildren, Jimmy Lee, Alyssa Ellis, David Giese, Eliana Bovinette, Sterling Snape, Sydney Snape, Savannah Snape, Sawyer Snape, and Saxton Snape; a cousin, Lorena Piper; nieces, Judy Touchton, Suzanne Hagen, and Debbie Kirby. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Nicholas and her sister and brother-in-law Harriet and Aubrey Saunders.
A graveside service for Elsie Goodson Nicholas, will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, 2019 at Sunset Hill Cemetery with Mr. Carroll Griffin officiating. Condolences to the family may be conveyed online at www.mclanecares.com. Carson McLane.