Mary Scholtz Drinker Gooch died peacefully in Rome, Georgia at the age of 86. Mary is survived by her beloved husband of 26 years, Brad Gooch, her son Philip Drinker and her daughter Margarita Dillon, both of New Jersey. She is predeceased by her son, David Drinker of Nagasakishi Japan. She is also survived by four grandchildren, Maria Nakura of Japan, Frankie, Aidan, and Hannah Dillon of New Jersey.
Mary was born in 1932 in Pretoria, South Africa to Edmund John Scholtz of Pretoria, South Africa and Margarita Mary McCall of Melbourne, Australia. She grew up in Cape Town and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc in mathematics and did graduate work at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She later attended Temple University in Philadelphia PA for her M.Ed. In her early years she was very active with Girl Guides and sports. She played field hockey internationally for South Africa. In 1960 she moved to Philadelphia PA on a fellowship to study and work at the Lighthouse Settlement in N. Philadelphia. She married James Drinker of Philadelphia, PA in 1961 and they brought up their three children there. She was especially proud of her daughter, Margi, who followed in her footsteps as a teacher and coach, most recently at the Pingry School in NJ. She was also an avid follower of her grandchildren as student-athletes: Frankie as a lacrosse goalie at Swarthmore, Aidan as a wrestling captain at Pingry and now at Notre Dame, and Hannah as a skilled field hockey player at the Pingry School.
Mary was an accomplished teacher of Math, who has taught in South Africa, England, Scotland, USA and the Bahamas. She has also coached many sports, field hockey, swimming, lacrosse, and tennis. In Cape Town she was, in her twenties, one of the four founders of the Westerford High School where she was a teacher, administrator, coach, advisor. She taught at Agnes Irwin School in PA, Suffield Academy in CT, Brooks School in MA as head of the math department and retired from the Groton School, MA as their first female Assistant Head of School. Mary and Brad moved to Rome in 2004 where they became enthusiastic followers of the Berry College Women’s Soccer Team and where she became an active volunteer at the Westminster Presbyterian Church and made a large circle of friends. She will be sorely missed by them but most of all by her husband, Brad, who loved her with all his heart.
A memorial service will be held Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 2:30 P.M. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Rome. A reception will be held in the fellowship hall of the church following the service.
Daniel’s Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
