Elva Goss; County Resident for 66 Years

Elva Goss of Ventura has died at the age of 86.

Goss, who died Friday at her home after a long illness, was born on March 11, 1915, in Bolivar, Mo., and had been a Ventura County resident for the last 66 years.

She was a homemaker and the matriarch of the Wright family on her father’s side.

Her jams and jellies won several first-place ribbons at the Ventura County Fair, and friends and family remembered the pies she made. She also enjoyed quilting; she made her first quilt in 1934 while living in Missouri and later made them for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She loved to work in her garden and especially enjoyed her three cats.

She was the longest member of the Pentecostal Church of God in Ventura, serving for more than 50 years, and was Sunday school superintendent for several years. She also was a member of the Pentecostal Ladies Auxiliary and had served as treasurer and president.

She is survived by a daughter, Myrtle Florence Pangburn of Hesperia; two sons, Johnie Lee Goss of West Plains, Mo., and Earl Dewayne Goss of Meiners Oaks; seven grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the Pentecostal Church of God in Ventura with the Rev. Larry Swift and the Rev. Bert Dickey officiating. Burial will be private.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the American Cancer Society, 3737 Telegraph Road, Suite D, Ventura, CA 93003.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.