No driver's license. No close neighbors. Small pension. Against family advice. Against common wisdom. A son built a one room shack for her, thinking it was to be a chicken coop. She moved in and changed the neighborhood forever. Walking the miles to the store, she observed the children of the area. She started a Sunday School in her home. The children came. Then families came. Soon a church buildi
ng was needed. With determination and donations, Mrs. Goodwin built a small block church on her mountain top. A community was born. Lives impacted. Memories made. All without the 1960's drug or free love culture. Or perhaps in spite of it. The sixties culture was hit head on by Grandma Goodwin and her Sunday School. Desiring to make a statement to passing motorists and to enhance the church building, she erected a neon sign declaring "Jesus, The Light of the World". The sign has been photographed by both professional and amateur photographers. The little country church has continued to be a vital part of the community on west highway 86, between Lampe and Carr Lane, Missouri. In the over 50 years since being erected, the sign has become a landmark. The message, "Jesus, the Light of the World" continues to be true and continues to change lives for eternity. Goodwin was born July 12, 1886, in Baxter, MO and was married to Albert Warren Goodwin July 19, 1904. In an interview by Nelle Gottschamer for the "History of Stone County" book, Frances stated that she had lived around Lampe, Missouri most of her life and at time helped run the only store in what is now Kimberling City in 1905. She recalled the Kimberling Ferry days and times when the White River over-flowed it's banks with swirling rapids. She must have been a daring young woman, for she crossed those treacherous waters many times in a canoe, not knowing how to swim. In 1907, they homesteaded in New Mexico. She saw many wagon trains in her lifetime, some going great distances and some short trips to Springfield for supplies which took a week. The Goodwins moved to Oroville, California in 1922, where she was lunchroom mamager at Burbank School. Between the two institutions, she was responsible for 1,000 lunches. An interesting sidelight to the years following the tenure of Oroville Elementary Schools is that Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin owned and operated a small country store in Lampe, Missouri. Every evening about sundown, a couple came in to buy a day's supply of groceries. The two were strangers to the area, and Warren Goodwin sensed "something shady about those characters". He instructed Frances to serve them quickly and usher them out the door, giving credence to the belief in a sixth sense. The "shady characters" turned out to be Bonnie and Clyde! Frances was a minister of the Apostolic Faith Church. In her early adult life, she was a teacher in the rural schools. She was instrumental in starting many churches. At age 73, she saw to the building of "The Gospel Lighthouse Church" on west highway 86, which was her great joy. Frances died October 17, 1980 at Branson. She is buried in the McCullough cemetery, located just off "H" highway, between Carr Lane and Viola, Missouri.
