Goldie Jean Fritts, 85, passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s diseased and related complications on Sunday, June 9, 2019, at Eldelweiss Home for the Elderly in Santa Barbara, California. Goldie was born on July 23, 1933, in Fairfield, Illinois, to Walter and Mary Ellen Fritts. Goldie’s father, Walter, died when she was young, leaving behind Goldie and her three sisters, Edith, Rene Belle, Josephine, and her brother David. Goldie’s mother remarried, and the family then moved to Streator, Illinois, where a half-sister, Karla, and a half-brother, Dean, eventually joined the family.
Goldie attended schools in Streator, graduating in 1951 from Streator High School. In December of 1951, she married Edwin Chalfant, who at the time was serving in the Army National Guard. The Army sent him to Georgia for basic training and then to Camp Cook, now Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California to finish his basic training and to prepare to be sent overseas to the Korean War. Ed and Goldie searched for housing in nearby Santa Barbara, but due to the build-up of military personnel in the 1950s, housing was hard to find, so, they ended up renting a small cottage in Solvang. They started their family there, with the first of their three boys, Danny, born in 1952. The war was soon over, and the young family moved to Santa Barbara.
Goldie took a job working at Sears, Roebuck, and Company, where she enjoyed working for many years as a clerk and bookkeeper. In 1956, their second son, Ronny, was born, with a third son, Kenny, following in 1968. Ed and Goldie bought their one and only house in 1957, and it became the cornerstone of Goldie’s life.
She was known as the lady in the pink house who often could often be found working tirelessly in her yard plating flowers and weeding flower beds. Her other passion was cooking, and she loved to be in the kitchen creating great meals for her family and friends, especially during the holidays.
After she left her job at Sears, she worked as a bookkeeper for several furniture stores, and, later on, did in-store product demos for several local markets.
Goldie was a devoted mother in raising her sons and taking care of her family. Her family was always there for her, particularly her son Ken, and his wife, Pauline, throughout her long and difficult last few years as she bravely battled her devastating, life-altering, and, ultimately, life-ending condition.
She was preceded in death by her husband of almost 56 years, Ed, who passed away in 2007, and by her father, mother, brothers, and sister Edith. Goldie leaves behind her sons and their wives: Dan (Aurora), Ron (Robin), Ken (Pauline); her sisters: Rene Belle, Josephine, Karla; her grandchildren: Christy, Karin, Ryan, Michael, Casey, Jessica, and Nicole; as well as two step-grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other family members, and friends.
