The Right Man for the Job

Albert and Jeannie Gooch at home

The tapestry of Albert S. Gooch, Jr.’s life is as colorful and multifaceted as the shirt the amiable southern gentleman was wearing during a recent interview with Flat Rock Together. His career has run the gamut of possibilities - from a teenage boy digging ditches and selling snow cones on weekends in Columbus, Mississippi, to a highly respected fund-raising consultant working on projects for the Archbishop of Canterbury - with a long lifetime of impressive accomplishments in between.

Throughout his 83 years, he has held to the belief that “There’s no end to what can be done with imagination and energy.” Fortunately for all of us, Albert Gooch certainly has an abundance of both imagination and energy.

Albert was born in 1938 and grew up as a high-spirited Mississippi boy with a passion for sports, an out-sized personality, and a drive to succeed. Wherever he went, he was sure to leave people smiling and admiring his accomplishments in his wake.

Albert started polishing his business skills with a weekend snow cone business during high school. Operating out of a portable stand built by his father, young Albert would set up in the “hitch lot” in downtown Columbus. “The county people would park their trucks there and I would get them coming into town and again when they were leaving,” he recalls.

Albert’s Senior High School Photo

In 1956, Albert matriculated at Mississippi College and quickly establish himself as one of the more recognizable men on campus. He arrived at campus in a convertible, was known for his easy charm, and played on the football team. When he’s asked what position he played on the team, he’s quick with a typically “Gooch-ian” humorous and self-effacing answer. “Left Out,” he says with a mischievous smile.

Ironically, the most important event of Albert’s college career happened on the very first day of his freshman year - the day he met Jeannie Arrington, a fellow first-year from Collins, MS. The pretty girl’s name immediately rang a bell for Albert. As a child, Albert would listen to Jimmy Arrington - father of Jeannie - on the radio during a show that featured humorous observations about current events in Mississippi and the world. “My parents used to put me to sleep when I was a little kid listening to Jimmy Arrington on the radio.” He was duly impressed to meet the daughter of such a prominent Mississippian and he immediately resolved to be part of her college social circle.

Jeannie well remembers the personable football player from Columbus. Although Albert claims that he couldn’t get on her social schedule given the number of competing suitors, Jeannie remembers that year quite differently. “We dated a little our freshman year,” she recalls. “But Albert came to college in a green convertible and had all these other girls. I’m telling you. He was pretty popular because of his personality - and his convertible!”

Sitting next to his wife of 58 years, Albert Gooch pipes up at this point in the narrative. “A 1950 Ford convertible! And it wasn’t green. It was “The Chartreuse Chariot.” His grin lets you know that the car is probably an entire story in itself.

Albert and Jeannie both wrote columns for the college newspaper that, appropriately enough, were printed side by side. Jeannie’s column was titled “Of Many Things” and Albert’s was called “Heads and Tails.” At that time, Albert had an interest in journalism and thought that his future would involve being in the newspaper business.

Albert and Jeannie’s relationship didn’t take a serious turn until their senior year. “When she would finally admit she knew me.” jokes Albert. Still, when graduation came, they went their separate ways - Jeannie to Pascagoula, MS to teach and Albert to Sewanee Military Academy to teach English and History and to coach football and track. True to his small-town roots, Albert was immediately drawn to the closeness and cohesiveness of the small community located on 13,000 acres atop the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee.

But he never forgot the pretty girl from Collins.

Albert and Jeannie embarked on a long-distance relationship of letters, calls, and occasional treks to visit each other. Jeannie laughingly recalls that Albert would sign his love letters with the very formal

Yours truly,

Albert S. Gooch, Jr.

Albert when he was Director of Admissions for Sewanee: The University of the South

That incongruous closing made Jeannie smile and endeared Albert to her heart even more. So much so that she later forgave him when she discovered that the contents of many of his “mushy love letters” were “borrowed” from the published letters of a love-struck Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States.

After three years of long-distance love, Albert determined it was time to get serious and he resolved to propose to Jeannie. To make his proposal more enticing and enhance his prospects for receiving an affirmative reply, Albert first lined up a job for Jeannie at St. Mary’s School for Girls at Sewanee … and then proposed. “I wanted her to pull her own weight,” he laughs.

The answer was “Yes” and on June 22, 1963, Albert and Jeannie were married. Almost six decades later they have two children, Alyson and Albert S. Gooch, III known as “Tres”, and three grandchildren. They also claim an “adopted” second son Victor Bubuioc of Charlotte, whom they share with his Moldova parents.

After they were married, the couple soon moved to Covington, TN where Albert embarked on a short-lived career in journalism to be the Associate Editor of Covington Leader. Within a year, however, Sewanee and the “Campus on the Mountain,” called the young coach and teacher “home.” Albert took a job as Executive Director of the Associated Alumni and a few years later moved into the position as director of college admissions.

All told, Albert spent 23 years at the University of the South and to this day his allegiance to Sewanee is unwavering. “Sewanee is set apart from the world with a very small non-student population and you can’t live there without being part of its small-town life. The students keep the place young.” And he loved his work as well. “There hasn’t been any part of my life that I haven't enjoyed. But I think doing college admissions was the most enjoyable. I got to meet so many really good people, not just students, but the high school counselors that you dealt with.”

In 1983, the Kanuga Conference Center in Henderson County lured Albert to the mountains of western NC to be president of the Center. For 22 years, he and Jeannie enjoyed life on the beautiful Kanuga property as Albert and his staff helped steer the Center through a successful period of capital improvements and growth hosting church conferences and private clients. The job was a perfect fit for his amiable personality. “I enjoy meeting people. It’s nice to invite people to your home and not have to worry about fixing it up.”

In 2005, Albert retired from Kanuga and embarked on his next adventure as a fundraising consultant working with clients from London to Oregon, but primarily with the Anglican Communion (Episcopal churches in the US). “Mostly I would help churches with capital campaigns.” His optimistic approach to life was a boon to his clients. “The main problem I had was convincing people to set a high enough goal.” Perhaps most memorable from Albert’s consulting career was work done for the Archbishop of Canterbury that involved travel to South Africa.

Throughout his four decades in Henderson County, Albert Gooch has also been an integral part of making our community a better place for all of us. It’s hard for Albert to recall all the organizations he’s served but the tip of his civic service iceberg includes

Six Years President of Flat Rock Playhouse

President of Henderson County Chamber of Commerce

Board President, United Way of Henderson County

Campaign Chairman, United Way of Henderson County

Chairman of the Board, Christ School in Asheville

Two Terms on the North Carolina Arts Council

Two Terms on Flat Rock Village Council

President of Hendersonville Rotary

Albert with the Most Rev. and Right Honorable Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

Along the way, he picked up a couple of honorary doctorates from Virginia Theological Seminary and the University of the South.

Perhaps one of his proudest achievements is his work with his good friend and co-worker at Kanuga, Ray West. Albert helped Ray establish the Moldova World Children’s Fund (MWCF) which does humanitarian work for children in the Republic of Moldova. Today Albert continues as board chairman for the Moldova World Children’s Fund.

It was his association with MWCF that resulted in Jeannie Gooch traveling to Moldova and meeting a young man named Victor Bubuioc. She was so impressed by Victor, she resolved that the teenager should come to the USA to study. Albert, ever the astute husband, wisely agreed with Jeannie’s assessment and helped Victor gain admission to Christ School. It’s a decision that still pleases both of the Gooch’s. “It just felt right,” says Jeannie. “Albert was Chairman of the Board at Christ School and he jumped right on it.” Victor excelled at Christ School and went on to Brevard College and now lives and works in Charlotte with his young family. “He’s our third child,” says Jeannie.

Perhaps the one job most perfectly suited for an inveterate storyteller was Albert’s volunteer work as Docent at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church. Albert has regaled thousands of visitors to Flat Rock’s most historic church with tales - some tall, some true - about the people who’ve called St. John their church home for the past two centuries. And he always did with the distinctive Gooch panache. “I have a little bit of showmanship, obviously,” he says with a smile. “I enjoyed doing that. And most of the time I told the truth.”

After being in Henderson County and Flat Rock for nearly half his life, what does Albert Gooch think of the place he’s called home for 38 years? “Flat Rock is a great place to live. It’s comfortable and people are friendly. Fortunately, both of our children live right here. We are very contented.”

Looking back through the years, there’s a lot to admire about the trajectory of Albert Gooch’s life and career. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that everywhere he’s been, and everything he’s accomplished, he did with a smile and a positive energy that made the people and organizations around him better as a result of his presence.

With grandson, Caleb

Albert served as President of the Board for Flat Rock Playhouse and the Scenic Studio is named in his owner. Pictured are a very young Scott Treadway and Robin Farquhar.

Albert co-authored a book about Kanuga