My dear friend, Pat Gooldy, passed away in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 15, 2018. Pat and her husband, Ray, spent many years as the proprietors of Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe. I would visit with them when we attended the many conferences over the years – and usually ended up going out to eat with them after we got packed up. Even though they were much older than I, Ray and Pat would ALWAYS stick around the exhibit hall and help me pack up after the function was over.
Ray and Pat did a lot of publishing of genealogy records, as well as how-to guides, during the pre-internet era. Many of their titles became obsolete with the internet revolution, as most of their transcribed records are now online – often available at no charge. But during all those years before the internet, the Gooldy’s materials were of prime importance to genealogists everywhere. Besides publishing, Pat was a great teacher. She taught elementary school for most of her life, and would teach genealogy classes at seminars and conferences on the weekend.
Ray and Pat operated Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe from 1974, and exhibited at conferences all over the mid-west (and often further) until Ray’s death. David Carroll (Pat’s grandson) would often drive their van, and help set up and tear down the booth. David looked after his grandmother as Pat continued to operate the business, gradually cutting back until she was only selling her products on the internet. The website, http://yogs.com/, is still online, but I understand that its functionally isn’t fully operational any longer.
Ray passed away the 29th of July 2002, and is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Ellettsville, Monroe County, Indiana. Pat was buried there on December 20, 2017.
The following is copied directly from the bio page at the YOGS.com website. I am including the info in its entirety here, as I’ve got a pretty good idea that this info will disappear once the website goes away – which I’m sure it will. Whatever happens, I’d like the memory of Pat and Ray to live on in some way. R.I.P – Pat and Ray.
Pat is a retired elementary school teacher, having received her bachelor’s degree from The Unversity of Indianapolis and her master’s at Butler University. She specializes in the design and introduction of new forms/charges as well as the indexing, compiling and editing genealogical records.
She has compiled and edited, with Charles M. Franklin, the Index to Testators of Indiana Wills to 1880. Her talk on “21 Things” has been so well received, she has compiled the charts that illustrate it into a booklet used by many instructors in basic courses for fledgling genealogists. As an Alumna of the National Archives Institute on Genealogical Research, she took on the project of editing and publishing The Lost Soldiers 1784-1811 with Barbara Wolfe; who compiled it from the original seventeen rolls of microfilm. Pat’s geographical area of interest is Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and other “feeder states” into the Old Northwest Territory.
Her favorite ancestor is the lady who was fined a penny for verbal abuse {and threats of physical mayhem) to another “lady” making unwelcome overtures to her husband. Ray retired from the U.S. Army in June of 1972 after over twenty years of service. He is a native Hoosier from Ellettsville, Monroe County, Indiana. He moved to Indianapolis after he and Pat were married in May of 1968. Ray graduated from Ellettsville High School before he entered the army. Ray has edited and published The Index to Mexican War Pension Applications by Barbara Wolfe. He is also co-author, with Pat of The Manual for Indiana Genealogical Research, Manual for Illinois Genealogical Research and The Directory of Illinois Genealogical Societies. He has also compiled Kentucky, a Brief Genealogical Guide, An Aid in Researching the Bluegrass State and Researching Church Records in America, an aid to genealogists for finding their ancestors by use of church records. His special interests are genealogical instruction, newspaper research, and the Old Northwest Territory.
Both Pat and Ray are graduates of the National Archives Institute on Genealogical Research and the Kentucky State Archives Institute on Genealogical Research. They have both been appointed as Honorary Kentucky Colonels by the governor of Kentucky for their work in preserving Kentucky genealogical records. They are listed in Who’s Who in America for their contributions in the field of genealogy.
Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe now publishes over 500 titles in the field of genealogy research publications and has forms, charts and maps to aid genealogists in their research. Their website features surname indexes for most of their publications.
OBITUARY OF WALTER RAYMOND “Ray” GOOLDY
May 4, 1932 – July 29, 2002
Walter R. “Ray” Gooldy, 70, of Indianapolis, IN died early Monday, July 29, 2002, at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, IN. Born May 4, 1932 in Ellettsville, IN, he was the son of Donovan Oral and Catherine Lois (Frantz)Gooldy.A retired Army Veteran of over twenty years service, he had served more than twelve years in Germany, two years in Korea and two and one half years in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He retired in June of 1972.
He and his wife owned and operated Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe in Indianapolis. He had written seven books to assist genealogists, given hundreds of speeches, and furnished commercial displays for seminars all over this country from Florida to California and from Minnesota to Texas. He was a member of many genealogy organizations including the Association of Professional Genealogists. He was a founding member of the Franklin Twp.(Marion County, IN) Historical Society and the Indiana Genealogy Society.
He was appointed a “Kentucky Colonel” by the Governor of Kentucky for his service in the publishing of over 150 books on Kentucky County Records. Among many awards he especially prized and felt honored by was the Illinois Genealogical Society’s award for service on behalf of Illinois genealogists.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia Van Treese Gooldy of Indianapolis; one daughter, Sherida Lynn Altman of Oregon; two brothers, Roger Gooldy of Michigan and Jerry Gooldy of Ohio; one sister Alice Finley of Indiana; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and one daughter, Donna Rae Mowbray.
Services were held at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Chandler Funeral Home in Ellettsville, IN. Burial was at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Ellettsville where military graveside rites were conducted by the Veteran’s Honor Guard. On that day Ray became one of six straight-line generations of Gooldys buried in that cemetery which is located just 200 feet west of the land on which he grew up the 1930s through the 1950s.
“Ray passed away the 29th of July 2002, and is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Ellettsville, Monroe County, Indiana. Pat was buried there on December 20, 2018.”
Typo on the date. I assume you meant 2017.
Thank you for sharing your tribute to Pat and Ray Gooldy. I am a Missouri-Gooldy, according to Pat in a phone conversation we once had. Ray’s line sprouted from William Hiram Gooldy (oldest son to Frederick) who relocated to Indiana. My group is from Alfred Samuel Gooldy (the youngest son of Frederick) The searching continues to confirm the family tree line. Pat and Ray must have reached thousands of “new recruits” into the world of genealogy research and discovery. Yet, now they are at the vantage point – they have climbed over those brick walls at last!! RIP, job well done.