[Posted Feb. 20, 2008]

Mother and Educator 
To Untold Generations;
Inspired Many Youth

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal & Guide
 
                Mrs. Jocelyn Goss, who taught in the Norfolk Public schools and was a professor at Norfolk State University, died February 17.
        Mrs. Goss, born in Smithfield, Virginia in 1912, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth and Arinthia Pretlow.  He was a carpenter and she was an educator.

Mrs. Jocelyn Goss

        She attended the  High School Department of Virginia State College. She then enrolled at Fisk University and majored in  English and minored in  German.  She later enrolled at Columbia University, where she received her Master's Degree in English.
       According to a daughter, Ola, who lives in Norfolk, she landed a job at Butler College in Tyler, Texas after Columbia.  There she met her husband, Judge Goss, who was the school’s football coach.
       She and Judge migrated to her hometown of Smithfield, until they decided to return to Texas and resume their work at Butler College. The couple later landed jobs in New London, Texas, where he was principal of the high school and she was on the faculty. In New London, according to Ola Goss, she and two other siblings were born.

       In 1948, the Goss family returned to Hampton Roads.  Mrs. Jocelyn Pretlow Goss acquired employment at then Norfolk Unit of Virginia State University  (now Norfolk State University) and became an established member of the school’s English Department faculty for 60 years.   

        Mrs. Goss was not only a highly regarded figure on the campus of Norfolk State University, but in the Norfolk community. She was one of the top leaders of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.  She was involved in the Urban League of Hampton Roads. A Distinguished Award for Educational Achievement is named in her honor and bestowed each year.
       She was a long time member of Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church in Norfolk.  Her motto, according to her daughter, Ola, was “Others helping others.”
       Dr. Carol Pretlow is the niece of Mrs. Goss.  She said that she enrolled at Fisk University because her aunt had a friendship with Dr. William P. Robinson, Sr., who taught at the historic  school’s political science department.
       “When I arrived at the school, he told me that he was leaving Fisk, and returning to Norfolk State.  But I made the best of it because I knew my aunt had such a great experience at the school.”
        Dr. Pretlow now teaches in the NSU Political Science Department. And she says she has long admired her aunt’s concept of education.
       “That concept meant climbing down from the often isolated ivory tower of academia,” said Dr. Pretlow. "Come down from the tower, and walk up the street and beyond that academic wall to interact with people whom you serve and who need the education you can provide. How can you know what the needs of the  people are if you do not walk beyond that wall and talk to them?
      "I ride the bus to and from work. I interact with regular people to see what they are thinking.  One man told me that he could not talk to me because he was not educated. I told him you do have a opinion and a right to express it so we can exchange with each other and teach each other. My aunt believed that the academic and the workman have much in common and have much to share and teach each other to uplift our community. That is her lasting legacy.”
       Mrs. Jocelyn Pretlow Goss’ wake will be held Thursday February 21 and will be conducted by members of her sorority at Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church. Her funeral will be held Friday Feb. 22 at  11 am at Bank Street Church.

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