| Notes |
- JOHNSON CITY - George Dalton Gough of Johnson City died at home on Thursday, June 22, 2023, surrounded by family and loved ones. He was one month short of his 99th birthday.
Mr. Gough was born at the family home in Unicoi County, Tennessee on July 19, 1924, the thirteenth child of James T. Gouge and Harriett Grindstaff Gouge. He was the last surviving sibling of a large and loving family.
Mr. Gough, a member of The Greatest Generation, enlisted in the Navy immediately upon graduation from Unicoi County High School in 1942. During World War II he served as a gun crew chief on armed merchant vessels throughout the Pacific, participating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, the New Guinea campaign, and many others, culminating at the terrible battle for Iwo Jima.
After the war, Mr. Gough returned to his beloved Northeast Tennessee and lived in Johnson City for the rest of his life. He was employed at Eastman Kodak in Kingsport before joining his wife’s family’s business, Accurate Machine Products Corporation. He eventually purchased the company, which he ran until his gradual retirement in the mid-1990s. In later years he also helped his wife with her antique and estate jewelry business, and the couple traveled widely.
Mr. Gough was married to the love of his life, Margaret Ann Stewart (1927 – 2003), in 1952. The couple were life-long members of First United Methodist Church in Johnson City. They are survived by their children, Kenneth D. Gough and wife Sheila of Elizabethton, Janie Whittimore and husband Terry of Johnson City, and Myra Paessler and husband Charles (Sparky) of Johnson City; grandchildren Alison Whittimore Stallard (Rory), Kelly Whittimore (Apryl Scalf), Ryan Gough (Dr. Katherine Richeson), Dr. Matthew Zumwalt, Ethan Gough (Allie), Elizabeth Zumwalt Brewer (Christian), and Stephen Gough,; 6 great-grandchildren; and nephews and nieces too numerous to mention.
In 2004, at the age of eighty, Mr. Gough married Marie Kellum, and the two of them enjoyed 14 wonderful years together, traveling and cultivating a wide circle of friends until Marie’s passing in 2018.
Always a musician from a musical family, in his last years Mr. Gough often spent 2 or 3 nights every week listening to music at the Red Barn, the Bogart-Bowman Cabin, and the Boones Creek Opry. He could not get his fill of live country, gospel, and old-time music.
Mr. Gough never lost his love of life and sense of gratitude, convinced that he was the luckiest man on earth. He was a good and strong man who demonstrated his love and faith through his works and example; he was the rock upon which his family was built and upon whom his friends could always depend.
The family wishes to thank Mr. Gough’s many friends for their kind and loving support during the difficult final days, with special thanks to his niece Lois Ann Durham, his great friend John Evans, and Cindy Northern and his other wonderful caregivers.
The funeral service will be held at Tetrick Funeral Services in Johnson City on Sunday, June 25, 2023, visitation will be from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, with the service immediately following at 3 pm with Rev. Jodie Ihfe and Rev. Jane Taylor, current and past pastors of First United Methodist Church, will commend him to the loving care of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The graveside committal service will be conducted at 12:00 pm Monday, June 26, 2023, at Monte Vista Memorial Park. Active pallbearers will be grandsons, Ryan, Ethan, Stephen Gough, Dr. Matthew Zumwalt, grandson-in-law, Rory Stallard; and great-grandson, Rylan Stallard. The honorary pallbearer will be John Evans.
|
1924 - 2023 (98 years)
