When JoAnn Williams Goforth took a job at The Meridian Star in 1968, she never thought she’d spend more than half her life at the newspaper.

    Goforth, who works in the paper’s classifieds department, will retire tomorrow after 47 years at the daily paper.

    “My family and I had just moved back to Meridian after living in Illinois for five years and I wasn’t working anywhere,” she recalls. “My sister-in-law, Ruby Graham, who worked at the paper, told me they had an opening in classifieds if I was interested. I came down and put in my application, and Malcolm Lewis, who was the classified ads manager at the time, called me right away, and the rest is history.”

    Goforth, who most know as “Miss JoAnn”, remembers when it took a roomful of workers to get the paper out each day.

    “We had so many people in the press room, composing, the newsroom, and advertising,” she said. “There were seven people in classifieds, a classified manager, two outside sales people, and four inside that waited on customers, took ads, and did the billing.”

    These days, computers are necessary in the newspaper business, but for a long time, she used a typewriter to type out ads.

    “After we typed the ads, we put them on a spindle that sat on the corner of my desk,” she said. “When we would get several of them, I would then take them back to composing where I put them on another spindle and they would type them up.”

    When Goforth started working at the Star, it was owned by Jimmy and Hilah Skewes. She said the Skewes treated their employees like family.

    “I remember back then we would have a big Christmas party, we drew names, everyone got a gift, and we all went in together and got them a gift,” she said. “I can still see him standing at the counter telling everyone how much he appreciated them, it was the sweetest thing.”

    Looking back, she has fond memories of many of the people she worked with.

    “There was Homer Cook in charge of the darkroom, John Wayne Bohls in the pressroom, Brogan Price in composing, Otis Headley, the advertising manager, Jack Bynum, J.E. Strange, and Malcolm Lewis,” she recalled. “Then there was Edna Wilkinson, Margaret Chrysler, Jean Perry, Jerry Kern, and Pearl and Roger Bryant in the newsroom, I loved everyone of them. And everyone remembers Bonnie Gough at the switchboard, and my sweet friend Mary Brown. There are too many to mention but I love everyone I’ve worked with then, and now.”

    She also remembers her first three customers fondly.

    “Tommy Rose with Rose Mobile Homes was one of my first customers, and I just loved him,” she said. “He came in when he got some old mobile homes and was just starting his business. Then there was Lou Hoidahl who had a carpet cleaning service, and Bob Hill, who had an automotive place. These three customers were so close to my heart.”

    One person who made a big impression on her was Myrtle Thompson.

    “She worked in classifieds and was a big inspiration to me when I started, helping me with ads, spelling and just how to do things,” she said. “She was a sweet, sweet person and everybody loved her. Even after she retired if we needed help she would come up here and help us out.”

‘Good as I have

ever seen’

    John Wayne Bohls said his longtime colleague was diligent at her job.

    “She’s one of the best workers I have ever seen at the paper – she can sell anything to anybody,” he said. “She is about as good as I have ever seen. There have been other ones that were good too, but she is about the best. Usually when someone calls in to classified they just about want to talk to JoAnn. I know she is going to really be missed around there.”

    Elizabeth Ryan, who has worked with Goforth since 1984, agrees.

    “I’ve seen her children and grandchildren grow up – I remember when they were born,” she said. “When you work with someone as long as I have worked with JoAnn, you are much more than co-workers, you’re more like family. And while I am happy for her, she will leave a void, not just for all she has done for us here, but because I love her and because of the lovely, positive Christian lady that she is.”

    Amy Harwell, who has worked at the Star for more than two decades, said Goforth is one of the most compassionate people she has ever met.

    “It’s her cheery, positive attitude that I will miss the most,” she said.

    “JoAnn was so much fun to work with, she was always such a bright cheerful person, and everyone loved working with her,” said Mary Brown, who worked beside Goforth from the beginning.  

    “Through the years we became good friends, going on trips together and visiting in each others homes. She will always be my friend.”

Changes, and

looking ahead

    Through the year, as technology has changed, so has the newspaper. Goforth has been a witness to those changes.

    “Everyone hated to see the press leave, and also when we quit doing our ads here,” she said. “When we did the ads here the customer would look at it, and if we needed to fix something it could be done quickly.”

    What Goforth will miss the most about her job, she said, is the people.

    “I will miss the people I work with, all my customers, and the ones I do business with over the phone,” she said. “The people I work with are like family, and they have meant so much to me. We believe in helping, and caring for each other, through good, and bad times.”

    In retirement, Goforth plans to spend more time with her husband Jerry, sons Robby and Boyd Ray, and granddaughters Miranda and Hannah. She’s also looking forward to camping on the river, traveling, and volunteering in the community.

    “I love the outdoors, I enjoy watching the birds, squirrels, and cows while sitting on my screened porch at the river,” she said. “I also want to do some volunteer work, because I want to do something that is good, and makes me feel like I am helping people in some way.”

    And even thought she is leaving The Star, the paper will always be a part of Goforth’s life.

    “It’s been a part of my life for the past 47 years, and I just can’t imagine it not being in my life in some way,” she said. “I will come to visit often, and plan to keep in touch, too. I’ve enjoyed the paper the way we used to do it, and the way we do it now. I’ve enjoyed it all. It will be a tremendous change for me, but I will take it one day at a time. It has all been different, but it has all been good.”