Ethel H. Gonzalez

Ethel H. Lobbregt Oakes Gonzalez died April 2, 2022, at her home in Villa Rica, Georgia. She was born to Henry Garrett and Hermina Stolk Lobbregt in Paterson, New Jersey, on October 2, 1924. Ethel graduated from Central High School in Paterson and also from Sherwood School of Business. She married Harold (Bud) Oakes in 1945, and they raised three children: James Harold, Jeanne, and Susan (Sue). They briefly lived in Paterson, then Prospect Park, and then settled in Hawthorne, New Jersey. She was a faithful member of Central Reformed Church, Paterson. After Bud died in 1966, she went to work at Columbia Records in Hawthorne where she met Charles J. Gonzalez, whom she married in 1969. They moved to Augusta, Georgia, in 1970, and joined Cliffwood Presbyterian Church where they were faithful members until moving to Villa Rica, Georgia, to be near family. They joined First Presbyterian Church, Villa Rica, and both became active members there as well. Ethel served in the Women in the Church in several positions, enjoyed Sunday School, and was a supporter of missions. Ethel said she came by sewing naturally since her mother was a professional seamstress. She enjoyed making her own clothes and those of her daughters and granddaughters. Also, she made beautiful handwork such as needlepoint, Swedish weaving, and embroidery. She enjoyed checking out books to read in the church library and doing crossword puzzles. Until the pandemic closed classes at Sportsplex in Carrollton, Ethel was attending exercise at least three times a week and enjoying birthday and holiday outings with the many dear friends she made there. She said she had lived through The Great Depression and several wars, but she had never known anything like the isolation COVID-19 forced on us all. She was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, daughter Sue Jarrett, and son-in-law Alan Shipp. She is survived by son James, daughter Jeanne Shipp, son-in-law Larry Jarrett, grandson Benjamin Paul Jarrett and his wife Angela, granddaughters Leigh Shipp Muniz and her husband Daniel, Kathryn Shipp Rhyne and her husband Joe, and Emily Jarrett Brown and her husband Matt, and great grandchildren Olivia Mae, Luke Henry, and Aaron Shipp Muniz, and Joseph Adam Jr., and Virginia Elise Rhyne. The family will receive friends at First Presbyterian Church in Villa Rica on Saturday, April 9, 2022, starting at 2:00 PM and the service will begin at 3:00 PM. Interment will be at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to First Presbyterian Church, Villa Rica, or to Samaritan's Purse. Messages of condolence may be sent to www.jones-wynn.com. Jones-Wynn Funeral Home Inc. of Villa Rica is in charge arrangements. 770-459-3694