Where Are They Now?
George Earl Goin has dedicated his life to his faith and to the service of others. Throughout his decadeslong construction career and his years as a deacon for the Charismatic Episcopalian Church, he’s found a life that he loves.
Goin went to Dublin High School until his senior year, in 1982, when his mother fell ill with cancer and Goin left school to take care of her. His mother passed away in August of that year.
Goin got his GED a couple of years after, and began working for big construction companies.
Growing up, he’d worked with his grandfather at his concrete company between Dublin and Stephenville. “For years, I’ve been feeding that mixer by hand, mixing concrete there and pouring tabletops and stuff like that, so I had a pretty good working knowledge of construction,” he said.
He started out as a laborer, but once his boss learned he could speak Spanish, Goin was promoted to foreman.
“I worked my way up through the ranks and I got certified as a foreman, as a carpenter and certified in concrete and piping, and did a lot of industrial work,” he said. “And as my construction experience increased, so did my pay and so did my travel. I ended up in South Carolina, where I finally got saved.”
Goin became more and more active in his church there, The Rock Church of Greenville, and met a woman named Diane. “She was on local Christian television and the radio station, and was probably one of the smartest women I’ve ever met,” he said. “I asked her to marry me.”
Goin married Diane in 1997, and they spent 17 happy years together in Greenville, and then in Texas.
Goin continued working in construction and in the church. In 2001, he was ordained as a deacon.
Then, in 2014, Diane was diagnosed with cancer — the same one that had killed Goin’s mother. “I was with her the day she breathed her last,” Goin said.
After Diane’s passing, Goin was devastated, and at a loss for what to do with his life. “It was a very trying time for me,” he said.
After a while, he talked with the archbishop who had ordained him, and the archbishop suggested he come live in Selma, Alabama. “Quite frankly, Texas didn’t feel like home any more without Diane,” he said.
So Goin moved to Alabama. “I was there for a year and a half after Diane died, and then here comes Rosemary, another blonde, beautiful, spiritually gifted [woman],” Goin said. “God saw fit to make sure that I didn’t have to walk alone.”
Goin married Rosemary and they lived in Alabama until August of last year, when they decided to move to San Antonio and help start a church, Christ the Servant Charismatic Episcopal Church.
The church congregation is currently about 25 families. The process hasn’t always been easy, but Goin enjoys where he’s at. “We’re just serving God, doing what we’re supposed to do and having a good time with it,” he said.
As the deacon for the church, Goin gets there early before services and makes sure the altar is set up and everything is ready for the day. He balances this work with his jobs in construction, and stays busy. “Being a deacon is who I am,” he said. “Construction is just what I do.”
In the future, he and his wife Rosemary have plans to start a couple of RV parks to help fund their retirement, as well as a charity called Unto Him Ministries. “Anything that you do to the poor you do unto Him,” Goin said.
In this spirit, the Goins hope to start a community garden or other project to help people in need. “That’s something that my wife and I are excited about doing,” he said.
When he’s not working, Goin enjoys studying the Bible and spending time with his family. “I have made it a point in my life to make my wife happy,” he said. “All the things I do are geared around her and what makes her happy. That’s the pattern that’s been set forth in the Word of God, for everything that we do: if you live your life and service to others, you will never run out of things to do. And your reward is great.”
Goin’s advice to Dublin graduates is to live their lives in service of others. “There are things in life that make you happy, but I think the goal is to make others around us happy. Make things better now that they know you. That’s what I feel. It’s like, are you better since you and I have become friends?”
Throughout his life, Goin has incorporated that worldview into everything he does. “It’s not easy; it takes work. But at this stage of my life — I’ll be 60 in April — I thoroughly enjoy my wife, our marriage, our church, the things that we do now,” he said. “There’s going to be tribulation. Jesus even told you in this life you will have tribulations in this world and know that I’ve overcome the world and will return all these things for our good. I’m not sure how he’s going to do it. But he said he would and that’s good enough for me.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.