Mabel “Mabs” Fimple Goble, 87, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 26, 2023 with her family singing her way home the day before her wedding anniversary. 

 

She was born in Elkins, West Virginia, the last of 9 children, to Edward Caleb and Mabel Jane Luzier Fimple and was preceded in death by Dr. Ross Lee Goble, her husband of 59 years, their son, Gregory Ross Goble, and by siblings Annabell Currence, Lorraine Rogers, Eileen Erb, Rosalie Morris, Frances Brown, James “Jim” Van Fimple, and Lester Stanley Fimple.

 

Mabs is survived by daughters Deborah Lee Goble Noble (Jay) and Pamela Gail Goble Patterson (Steve); daughter-in-law, Marie Goble;

grandchildren Clinton Noble, Allison Noble, Brittany Payne (Brandon), Elyse Patterson (fiancé Brian), Nicole Patterson, and Sarah Goble; great-grandchildren, Savannah, Radha, Uma, Samson and Indy Noble; her brother, John “Jack” Fimple (Colleen), and their children; and by her life-long best friend, Joann Savage.
is survived by daughters Deborah Lee Goble Noble (Jay) and Pamela Gail Goble Patterson (Steve); grandchildren Clinton Noble, Allison Noble, Brittany Payne (Brandon), Elyse Patterson (fiancé Brian), and Nicole Patterson; great-grandchildren, Savannah, Radha, Uma, Samson and Indy Noble; her brother, John “Jack” Fimple (Colleen), and their children; and by her life-long best friend, Joann Savage.

 

When Ross passed, Mabs, as co-owner, became President of Engineering Development Laboratory, Inc. (EDL), a family-run business co-founded by Ross and Mabs in 1984.  She carefully watched over the company and its employees as if they were family. And she loved her family! She was active in the local community as a brownie and girl scout leader, co-president of the Riverside Elementary School PTA, volunteer at Riverside Hospital, member of North Riverside Baptist church, member of the Woman’s Club, and numerous other organizations.

 

She enjoyed many things over the course of her life including gardening, decorating, traveling, and sailing the local waters with Ross. She and her husband were beach buddies, meeting, dating, and marrying at Virginia Beach.  Ross’s habit of always drawing a heart with their initials in the sand is a fond family memory.  In Ross’s words, “I knew the music. She knew the words. Together we made our lives sing.”  Now they can sing together, again.

 

The family gratefully thanks Roseline and Menisha for their kind care, the Riverside Hospice team, and Mabs’ many health care professionals.

 

A graveside memorial service will be held Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 1:00pm in the Garden of Gethsemane at Peninsula Memorial Park, Newport News, with a reception following at Mabs’ home.