Vivian Goodwin Maddox

Vivian was born to Lester and Alma Boddie Goodwin on November 24, 1947, in Columbus, GA. She attended the Lucy Laney Elementary School in Waverly, Hall, GA, from the first through the eighth grades. She received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior at the age of twelve and was baptized at the Longstreet Baptist Church, in Waverly Hall, GA where she served as an usher.

She graduated from Carver High School, Hamilton, GA in 1965, and earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University), Fort Valley, GA, in 1969. As a sophomore Elementary Education student at Fort Valley State College, she married her high-school sweetheart, Joe B. Maddox, in December 1967.

She served as an usher in the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, TN. She served as an usher and Sunday school teacher in both the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Library, PA, and the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN. She has been a part of the church youth programs since elementary school either as a youth or a youth leader.

Her professional teaching career began in Shorter, AL in the fall of 1969 as a Librarian at Shorter Elementary School. In 1970 she moved to Lewis Adam Elementary School in Tuskegee, AL as a teacher. In 1971, she moved to Norris, TN with her husband and later taught at Norris Elementary and Glen Alpine Middle Schools. In 1972, her first child (Tonya) was born, and in 1974 she moved with her husband to Oak Ridge, TN. From about 1975 until 1982 she taught at Woodland Elementary School in Oak Ridge. In 1977, she gave birth to her second and last child (Treasure).

In 1982, she moved with her children and husband to Pittsburgh, PA. There she worked as a department store clerk and later as a substitute teacher until moving back to Oak Ridge, TN in 1984. Moving back to Oak Ridge, she went back to the Oak Ridge school system and taught at Willow Brook Elementary School, specializing in language arts.

She worked at Willow Brook Elementary until her disability retirement in 2003. It was at that time that her health began to decline. Upon having surgery to remove two large benign tumors (one from each frontal lobe of her brain), later events led to heart failure and a coma for several days. Two months later she was released from her confinement to hospital and rehabilitation facilities to return home. Her health continued to decline. This declination necessitated her being admitted to a healthcare facility for the last seven years of her life.

On the morning of July 22, 2023, at the tender age of 75, she transitioned peacefully from this life to life everlasting. Her husband, daughter, sisters, and endeared son were by her bedside.

She was preceded in death by her firstborn, Tonya Yvette Maddox Lewis, and her parents, Lester Goodwin and Alma Boddie Goodwin.

She leaves to cherish her loving memory her husband of nearly 56 years, Joe B. Maddox; daughter, Treasure Yvonne Maddox Bell of Knoxville, TN; sisters, Corine Goodwin Walker and Elizabeth Goodwin (William) Little of Atlanta, GA; brother, Boddie Goodwin of Cataula, GA; biological grandchildren: Tierra D. Lewis, Savana R. Lewis, Montorius S. Bell, Jr. and Ahvana T. Bell (all of Knoxville, TN); brothers-in-law, Aaron J. (Hattie) Maddox of Columbus, GA and Arch (Gloria) Maddox of Box Springs, GA; sisters-in-law, Florida M. (Fred) Murray of Chattanooga, TN, Dorothy Maddox of Columbus, GA, and Maeonia Maddox of Columbus, GA; endeared sons, Daniel J. Lewis of Knoxville, TN, M. Christopher Douglass, Timothy L. (Cassandra) Maddox, Sr., Roderick (LaTeesha) Staples (all of Knoxville, TN), and Alfred E. (Regina) Blount of Asheville, NC; endeared daughters, Felecia N. Littlejohn Cole, Veronica L. Andrews, Sherri M. Walker, Brandy S. Walker (all of Knoxville, TN), Katheryn Henderson (Eric) Hunt of Lexington, KY, Charles Etta M. Jones Sterling of Greensboro, NC, and Sheryl M. Bradford Josey of Nashville, TN; Special friends, John L. Underwood, Sr., Eveline Walker, Margaret Thompson, Katrina Bush Capshaw, Aleda Douglass, Gloria Andrews, LaDalia Logan, Daryl and Carolyne Thomas, (all of Knoxville, TN), Brenda J. Ward of Lexington, KY, and Evelyn J. Mims of Oak Ridge, TN; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, endeared grandchildren, other relatives and friends.

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