Marjorie C. Goswitz

On August 2, 1930, in Pontiac, Michigan, Leonard and Ann Carlson gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who they named Marjorie. While still a small child, her parents and her older brother, Len, moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she grew up.

As a young adult, Marjorie met a strapping young lad named Chuck Goswitz, who saw in her the love of his life. During their courtship, Chuck received his Juris Doctor in Law from the University of Minnesota Law School and was drafted into the Army as a JAG attorney in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. From there, he called Marjorie in Minnesota and asked her to be his wife. The two were wed on the base on August 31, 1955. They moved into their first home in Tucson, and about one year later had twins, Charles and Katherine. Soon after, Leonard, Philip, and Ann were born. Marjorie fully embraced her vocation of wife and mother. In 1967, Chuck, who was now working as a corporate attorney for Hughes Aircraft Co., was transferred to Southern California. The young family lived in Torrance for one year, where Joseph was born. They then moved to Rancho Palos Verdes, where Mary was born. It was there that Marjorie would spend the rest of her life.

From an early age, Marjorie developed a strong faith in God, which never waivered during her long life. She selflessly cared for her family, devoutly practiced her Catholic faith, and treated everyone she met with kindness and compassion. When her children were grown, she worked for a time as a teacher’s aide at Point Vicente Elementary School, and brought the Eucharist to many who were homebound. She went to daily Mass, and regularly spent time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

On October 8, 2001, she lost her husband Chuck, when he unexpectedly died suddenly of heart failure at home. Many years later, on Jan. 23, 2016, she would also lose her youngest son Joe, who died from complications following a stroke. Although heartbreaking, Marjorie found consolation in knowing they went to their real home in heaven, where she would be with them one day.

When her health no longer allowed her to drive or to do all the good things she was accustomed to doing, she discerned a new vocation: prayer. She spent much of her time each day in prayer, mostly reciting multiple rosaries for everyone she knew, and for those most in need of God’s grace.

In the final weeks of her life, she experienced significant suffering. But with her characteristic grace, she never complained. She courageously maintained a cheerful and peaceful spirit, knowing that suffering does have value. She would unite her sufferings with those of Christ, and offer it up for the souls in purgatory.
Mom led a saintly life which made her little corner of the world a better place. She was, and will remain, a powerful inspiration for all of us who were privileged to know her!


Funeral services for Marjorie C. Goswitz will be held at St. John Fisher Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022:
12:30pm – Recitation of the Rosary
1:00pm – Funeral Mass
2:30pm – Graveside Service at Green Hills Memorial Park
3:30pm – Reception at St. John Fisher Church lower level auditorium