Graham J. Godwin, Jr.: 1931 - 2002

Graham Jones Godwin, Jr.
July 4, 1931 - April 3, 2002
Two Of His Legacies: Zoe and Jonas

Zoe and Jonas - November 16, 2002

Dad had a direct part in the naming of both his grandchildren. It's pretty obvious when it comes to his grandson's name - Jonas Graham - that his grandson derived his middle name from Dad's first name. What isn't so obvious is how Dad influenced his grandaughter's name: Zoe Samantha.

Rewind to early 1998. Zoe was due to be born on April 30th and, while I was on the phone with my Dad, the subject of baby names came up. Heather and I had already found out that we were expecting a little girl, and we had already decided on "Zoe" as her first name. What we couldn't decide on was her middle name.

We had narrowed the possibilities down to two: "Samantha" and another name that I now cannot remember. When these choices were passed via phone to my Dad, he said "Well, Samantha sounds like Sam, and that's what they called your Mom when she worked at Philco". I relayed Dad's choice to Heather, and we all quickly agreed on "Samantha".

So, among the many things his grandchildren have to thank their Pa-Pa for is their names.