Vestal Goodman, 74; Gospel Music Singer, Part of Family Act

Vestal Goodman, 74, a pioneering gospel music singer and matriarch of the Happy Goodman Family act, died of undisclosed causes Saturday in Celebration, Fla.

Goodman and her late husband, Howard “Happy” Goodman, were part of the Goodman family act, which recorded 15 No. 1 gospel music songs and performed more than 3,500 concerts.

A native of Fyffe, Ala., Vestal Goodman began studying voice at age 13 or 14, and began singing Southern gospel music at 16.

The family act, which included sons Rusty and Sam, first came to prominence as part of “The Gospel Singing Jubilee,” a syndicated television program in the early 1960s. In the mid 1980s, they were regulars on Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s “PTL Club.”

Vestal Goodman received the Gospel Music Assn.’s award as best female vocalist of 1969. The Happy Goodman Family, which won a Grammy in 1968 for best gospel album, was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998.