Faith Goddard

Faith Godwin Goddard of Bethlehem, age 87, passed away peacefully in her home on Sunday May 2, 2021. She is survived by her son, Russell Cole and daughter Erica Cole, who was at her side during her last moments. She will be missed more than words can express. As many individuals lucky enough to live the long life that Faith had, there were many chapters and events of her life that are worth mentioning:

Faith was a Competition Equestrian during her youth, garnering many medals. She moved to Manhattan as a young woman, immersing herself in the vibrant Village art, folk music, and beatnik culture. While working as a waitress at Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village, she met and married Earl Cole. Together they had two amazing children in the turbulent 60’s, who are still around in the turbulent 2020’s. They narrowly escaping a devastating fire in the Little Italy artist loft Faith and the family lived in (with family and kitties all intact) and relocated to Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, thus starting a new chapter of her life.

After enduring the loss of her Brother, Mother, and Father within the same year, they bought a Victorian Brownstone, and created a true home for her family in the ‘gentrification-ready’ Cobble Hill, Brooklyn neighborhood during the 70’s. Faith and Earl moved to Connecticut in the 80’s, after Russell and Erica left the house to begin their own lives as young adults. This was the beginning of a lifelong dream of cultivating her own gardens of flowers and vegetables and with this began her ‘competition baking and gardening’ career, gathering many trophies and ribbons at the yearly State fairs and events.

Everyone who knew Faith would agree she was incredibly smart, witty, persistent, cultured, sensitive, but private. She would still break out into a Joan Baez folk song, decades after leaving ‘The Village’. She would often decline phone calls from family and friends while her passionate Julia Child cooking creations were being crafted. “Erica, can I call you back? I’m trying to get this chocolate sauce to emulsify!!” She instilled a love of culture in her children, often dragging them around to various famous museums in New York before they were old enough to appreciate the experience. King Tut’s treasure exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in April 1979 being a classic example. Faith also valued a keen mind and the ability to speak and think clearly with proper grammar. She was generous enough to offer her children a good education at some of New York’s reputable private schools. Her love of cats and all of their adorable charms and idiosyncrasies were passed on to her children, who can proudly say “Mom has Grand kitty children (Tribble and Violet).

Earl passed away from cancer, after being 5 years sober from alcohol. Faith was proudly over 37 years sober from Alcohol at the time of her death. It is with great sadness that Faith’s kitty Smokey suffered kidney failure within days of her passing. We hope Smokey is giving her heavenly ‘Feed me right MEOW!’ looks, while she asks if he wants T-R-E-A-T-S.

We love you, Mom, and hope you are surrounded by all the people, kitties, and horses that meant the world to you. Friends may gather at Christ Episcopal Church, Main St South in Bethlehem, CT, on Tuesday, May 18th at 2PM. The burial will take place Wednesday May 19th at Bryant Cemetery in Cummington, MA at 2PM. Munson Lovetere Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements. To leave an online condolence please visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com

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