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Lynn Goldoft was a member of the EPHS Class of 1966 who attended 8th Grade but transferred to the new Coronado High School, about a mile from her then home. Although she was an active member of that first CHS graduating class, Lynn had a strong affinity for EPHS through her friends who attended "The School on The Hill," and because of her father, Robert Goldoft, Class of 1928, along with relations and family friends who were also proud Tiger alumni.
Lynn was a teacher in El Paso for several years and later a sales associate at Charlotte's Fine Furniture. She married Garry Barnard while he was working at Fort Bliss. They remained El Paso residents and active volunteers with charitable organizations.
While in California for the winter holidays, visiting with a cousin who resides there, Lynn developed pneumonia, was hospitalized and within a few days succumbed on New Year's Eve while husband Garry and Lynn's cousin were at the bedside.
Graveside cerenonies at Mount Sinai Cemetery, El Paso, 27 April 2018.
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Steven Blumenthal
Memorial Remarks of Rabbi Ben Zeidman during the internment service for Lynn Goldoft
27 April 2018
The beginning of this week’s Torah reading, from the book of Leviticus, refers to the death of Aaron’s sons. In the midst of that death, we read that Aaron was silent. What could he say? What could he do? He had lost young men who were important to him. And here we find ourselves continuing to grapple with what it means to lose someone so dear to so many. What we can do is share a bit about who she was and offer words of memory to give voice to how her life meant so much to so many.
Lynn was born to Robert and Margaret here in El Paso, August 28, 1948. Lynn and her brother Beto were at home in El Paso. It was her parents’ home, and even her grandparents’ home. She grew up at the Temple and was confirmed there. It was her formal introduction to her religious tradition, and throughout her life she maintained a meaningful spiritual connection to God and prayer even though she was less concerned about organized religious practice or Temple attendance.
Lynn had a degree in education from UTEP and substitute taught for some time. She and Garry fell in love and he remained her beloved for 39 years of marriage. Together they had many great times, joyful moments and incredible experiences. She loved her friends, she cared about her community, she enjoyed her trips to California, and she was cherished by so many.
In her devotion to Garry, Lynn would often attend church with him. Even there, she found herself at home, cherishing those profoundly meaningful messages which spoke to her and who she wished to be in this world. In her honor, and in honor of her beloved Garry, I share a prayer she favored greatly for its message and its challenge:
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord,
And where there’s doubt true faith in you.
O Master, grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive.
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
Together we hope, as Lynn hoped, that she brought a bit of peace to this world. As we pray that her memory is a blessing, we will endeavor to make it true as we allow ourselves to be inspired to be there for others, to serve, and to give of ourselves to those around us. In that way, perhaps Lynn will live on eternally, having made just one corner of our world a little brighter for her brief time here on earth.