Leota Mae Sarraf

Leota Mae’s father, William Mark Goding of Pawnee City, Nebraska (born July 3, 1881, died November 30, 1947) traveled to Potter, NE in 1906 and purchased a farm northeast of town. On December 9, 1908 William M. Goding and Cora Lee Brothers of Kenney, Illinois (born July 16, 1883, died February 7, 1976) were married in Sidney, Nebraska. They homesteaded the farm until 1914 when they sold the farm and the family moved into Potter.

In addition to homesteading, William Goding was an entrepreneur involved in real-estate, owned the Potter Garage, was County Commissioner, was appointed Postmaster by President Roosevelt for the Potter Post Office, drilled the first irrigation well in the area, loved trees, planting many in the area, created the funding system for maintaining the Potter Cemetery, sponsored the Potter baseball teams, member of the Lions Club, member of the Potter Board of Trustees, played baseball and was a member of the Cemetery Association.

Cora Lee was a pioneer who helped in the development of the community. She was a renown horsewoman and loved horses with a stable of 16 at the time of her marriage. She assisted in feeding the ranch hands, cared for livestock, raised a large family and excelled at cooking, sewing and weaving.

Education was very important to William and Cora Goding who insured that their children all received a good education. Leota Mae’s siblings are:

 Lillian Lucille (Joan) Nielsen of Del Rio, Texas. US Army employee.

 Edna Goding Trapolino, (deceased) of West Palm Beach, Florida. Teacher.

 Elizabeth Goding Andersen, (deceased) of Sidney, Nebraska. Agriculture.

 Jessie Lee Goding Mayer, (deceased) of Dalton, Nebraska. Agriculture.

 Mark Alden Goding, (deceased) of Potter Nebraska. US Navy Submarine Service.

 Dr. Ray Franklin Goding, (deceased) of Amarillo, Texas. Chief of Surgery at Dover AFB and surgeon for VA Administration Hospital in Amarillo Texas.

Leota Mae (aka Lee, Doty or Toby) was born September 25, 1922 in Potter Nebraska, in Cheyenne County. She helped her family with the farm chores, loved horseback riding and playing sports, especially softball. Leota left college early due to the war effort. After one year of college at Chadron State College in Chadron, NE, Leota moved to West Point, NY to live with her sister Edna and brother-in-law Vince Trapolino. She attended secretarial school in Newbury, NY, then relocated to Washington, DC to work for the Office of Rubber Research during WWII. She met future husband, Bill Sarraf,when he was moving into a boarding house on DuPont Circle, NW, DC. Bill says as soon as he saw her he knew she would be in his life.

Bill and Lee married in 1943 and have two daughters, Joan and Nancy. When Joan was in high school Lee enrolled in college at the University of Maryland, part time for the first few years, earning her BA in Art History. Lee and Nancy, by now also a student at University of Maryland, both graduated in 1975. Lee met her very good friend, Dr. Vera Foster Rollo, while in college.

Along with her “mom work” of Brownies, Girl Scouts, Jobs Daughters and Sunday school teaching, Lee volunteered for twenty five years as a docent at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

She and Bill developed a love for travel and visited many places around the world, including Italy, Costa Rico, Mexico, France, Hong Kong, Spain, Canada, Greece, Egypt, Russia, the British Isles, India, Kashmir and Nepal. They also loved antiques, scouring shops for the most beat up pieces they could find, then repairing and restoring them to their former glory.

Lee also enjoyed writing and had a number of her articles published. She also wrote “American Religions and Philosophies and their Derivations” which was edited and published by Vera Rollo in 2002.

Lee and Bill retired to Charlestown, a retirement community in Catonsville, MD where they did volunteer work for the community Benevolent Care Fund. Leota was a Director and also managed the dishes and glassware section. She also developed a very successful online website market to sell books to raise funds for the Benevolent Care Fund. She also was elected and served on the Charlestown Resident’s Council.

Leota took up watercolor painting, where she won First Place in the Charleston art show. She became an avid Orioles baseball fan. Other activities included birding, crosswords, gardening, bocce ball, dominos and card games.

Bill and Leota celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in October 2013.

Leota entered hospice at home on April 2, 2014. She passed peacefully at home with her family at 9:30 pm April 21, 2014.

Family will receive friends on Sunday, April 27th from 2-4 & 6-8PM at STERLING-ASHTON-SCHWAB-WITZKE FUNERAL HOME OF CATONSVILLE, INC.; 1630 Edmondson Avenue; Catonsville, MD 21228. Interment is private. For those desiring, memorial donations may be made in her memory to a charity of your choice.