Raussia Lee Goben

Raussia Lee Goben was born on January 14, 1920 in Tulia, Texas to Eula L. and Lutia Lee Cantrell. She was the last of six children. In 1941, she graduated from West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas. Soon after graduation she went to work in Dimmitt, Texas for the J.M. Huber Corporation, an oil and gas producer. She worked as a bookkeeper, a job she loved and one of the things that she was most proud about in her life.
After moving to nearby Borger, Texas, she met a young man working at the radio station, Robert Goben. They were married on June 5, 1949. They had three children, Janeen, Kevan and Galen. Ross, as Bob affectionately called her, spent many years raising the children. Bob was in great demand as a radio and TV repair man for RCA and it often left her at home by herself for a few days to as many as two weeks at a time. She had to be organized and focused to keep a household running smoothly by herself for much of the time. These skills, as well as a powerful sense of independence, she instilled in her children. She found time to go bowling, as well as being proficient and prolific at sewing (she clothed her family for many years, including making Bob's suits), crocheting, needlepoint and quilting. And there were always fresh baked cookies (peanut butter fingers and chocolate chip), cakes and pies, which she turned out for her family's enjoyment. Raussia Lee, as she preferred to be called, (a vestige of her West Texas upbringing) was also an Avon Lady and worked for the Jansen Sporting Goods company in Kansas City. She was a Cub Scout Den Mother and was active in the Neighborhood Watch program. But it was through her church that she really enjoyed making a difference in the world. Whether at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, First United Methodist of Richardson, Texas or Valley View United Methodist Church in Overland Park, Kansas she was deeply involved. She was very active with the United Methodist Women at each church and in her Sunday School Classes, most noteably the Wayfarer's Class in Richardson. She and Bob were also Youth Sponsors and went on the very first United Methodist Youth Mission trip to Appalachia from the Richardson church.
Due to the advancement of dementia, in 2010 she was moved to California, mostly against her wishes. "I'm a Texan and I'll always be a Texan!" Being a Texan, along with her Methodist heritage, were two very large parts of her identity, neither of which she ever forgot. On January 30, 2013 Raussia Lee Goben died in Studio City, California of the effects of dementia, two weeks after her 93rd birthday. She is preceded in death by her husband Bob. She is survived by her daughter Ruth Janeen (David) Liebert of Queens, New York; her son Kevan Goben of Rowlett, Texas; her son Galen (Louise) Goben of North Hollywood, California; her grandson Yair (Marsha) Liebert of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her grandson Micah (Lauren) Liebert and her great-granddaughter Elizabeth of Queens, New York; her granddaughter Ashley Andre and her great-granddaughter Gabrielle of Shawnee, Kansas; her grandsons Christopher, Sloan and Neill of North Hollywood, California. Services will be held at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills on Tuesday, February 5th at 2:30 pm at the Old North Church and at First United Methodist Church in Richardson, Texas at 3:00 pm on Thursday, February 7th. A viewing will take place at Restland Memorial Park in Richardson, Texas on February 7th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm with interment next to her husband Bob at 2:00 pm.