Obituary

Reppie Jo (Garrison) Goodman, 95, passed away on Monday, October 31, 2022. Her death was due to complications of dementia.

Jo was born in Urich, Missouri, a rural farming community, the daughter of Joseph C. Garrison and Lula Mae (Overbey) Garrison on April 27, 1927.

As a child she led an active approach to her daily life. She enjoyed many of the small-town activities along with her friends and family. Her father operated the only automobile service station and Jo helped out in her teenage years including pumping gas in customers’ cars. She didn’t mind such work since the town’s only gas station was popular with local teenagers.

Earlier at around age 9, she was having mobility issues. Doctor examinations discovered her hip joints were actually missing growth in the bones which had never properly formed. Needing a very expensive operation to enable her not to lose the ability to walk, Jo was taken to Kansas City where the Shriners organization accepted and paid for those hip replacements at no charge to the family. A kindness that she never forgot and forged her positive outlook throughout her life.

She attended public school in Urich and graduated as Valedictorian of her class. In the fall of 1945, she began a college education at Central Missouri State University until December when due to World War II and a workforce shortage she was allowed to begin teaching at the Enterprise School in Cass County ahead of graduation. She taught the children from all the grades (first through twelve) for the next four years in a one-room schoolhouse. Jo returned to CMSU during the summers to finish her education path.

She was united in marriage to Charles L. Goodman of Urich in June 1949. They set up their home in Kansas City, Missouri where Charles worked in accounting at Hall Brothers (Hallmark Cards). Jo used her teaching and personal skills to begin a lifetime of work in a variety of administrative service fields.

Early employment work landed her in downtown Kansas City. One of her fondest memories was of daily walks during lunch time when she would meet President Harry S Truman during his lunch time walks near their respective offices.

At home her household hosted an extended nuclear family which included her mother and eventually three children.

Later she would be employed as an Administrative Assistant at the Ruskin Heights Baptist Church in south Kansas City for two decades.

After retirement, she moved with Charles back to Urich and renewed old friendships. There, community involvement was important to them both. They moved into a new home constructed by students in a class at the local Sherwood School built on the old public schoolhouse property. At church she taught bible classes, sang in the choir and acted as hostess for numerous community activities.

Jo and Charles had three children, Garrison Kevin Goodman, of Kansas City, Philip Joseph Goodman of Urich, and Regina Gail Burt of Mound City, Kansas, along with two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Philip died in 2009. Charles died in 2013.

After Charles’ death, Jo moved back near Kansas City to be close to immediate family, continuing to be an active part of many lives. Despite the infirmaries of old age and the expanding challenge of memory loss, Jo continued to keep a bright and positive outlook on her life and the opportunities it had presented to her.

“Even when you are physically and mentally worn out,” she said many times, “if you can give just that little bit more, you will never look back that you didn’t do all you could do. Live with no regret, that’s the greatest gift you can give yourself.”


Services were under the direction of Langsford Funeral Home in Lees Summit.