Patricia "Carolyn" Gooch

Patricia “Carolyn” Gooch, age 87, passed away Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at home in Oak Ridge. A lifelong lover of cats, travel, and sports, she was born on March 28, 1935, in Michie, Tennessee. Carolyn was the daughter of the late James Lide Gooch and Mary Frances Hyneman Gooch.

In 1957, she graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science degree. During her college years, she held memberships in Mortar Board, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Lambda Theta, and Delta Gamma Sorority where she served one term as National President.

Her professional career spanned 40 years; it began in 1958, working in the biology division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As a Cytogeneticist she performed cellular research, her research
expanded to include working directly with NASA Astronauts in the development of the Space Program. Her expertise was highly respected, and she was often requested to work on site at nuclear
accidents in the United States and abroad.

In 2000, the University of Tennessee honored Carolyn as a member of the Benefactors Society. (This distinction is reserved for those whose outstanding generosity perpetuates a program of academic excellence.) Carolyn also served on the University of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine Board of Advisors.

Carolyn is survived by a host of loving cousins, friends, and special long-term caregivers, Nikki Truitt and Melissa Longmire.