Denise Goodridge

Mrs. Denise Goodridge of  Wesley Chapel passed away Saturday, November 16, 2019.  Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, November 23 at 10:00 a.m. at Life Church, 6224 Old Pasco Road, Wesley Chapel, Florida with Pastor Ed Russo, officiating.  Interment will follow in Rest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery. 

Denise Goodridge was born in Baltimore, Maryland to her beloved mother, Flora Walker.  She was lovingly called "Bitzy" by her family.  She grew up in Brooklyn, NY with her other mother, Edith DeHoney. 

She attended school in New York and she graduated from John Dewey High School.  This is also the place where she met the love of her life, Hal Goodridge.  She later attended Baruch College.  Denise and Hal were married on September 8, 1990.  The Goodridges relocated to Newark, Delaware where they raised their three children, Joshua, Nathaniel and Rebecca. 

After living in Delaware for several years, they relocated to Wesley Chapel, Florida and  Denise worked at Wesley Chapel Elementary School.  After a few years, she took a position at Wiregrass Ranch High School where she was the principal's secretary. 

Denise, Hal and the kids were members of Life Church under the leadership of Pastor Ed Russo.  They were active members.  Denise volunteered at the church, helping out in the nursery teaching rainbows and being a youth leader.  She was a faithful and devoted servant who loved the Lord.  Her faith and loving ways were a great comfort to many.  She always had a kind, encouraging word for all she encountered. 

Denise is survived by: her husband, Hal; sons, Joshua and Nathaniel; daughter, Rebecca; mother, Flora Walker; brothers, Frank Walker, Steven DeHoney, and Samuel Mitchell; sisters, Happy Dabbs, Marie Davis, and Susan Carter; mother-in-law, Wilma Goodridge; sisters-in-law, Beth Davidson, Joan Stallings, Emmeline Bannis and Faye Walker; and a host of aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives, church family and friends. 

The remains will repose after 5 p.m. Friday, November 22 at Ray Williams Funeral Home, 301 N. Howard and the family will receive friends from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Denise Goodridge, please visit our floral store.