Becky Godwin

Becky Godwin"' (born 1953 Richmond, Virginia, USA; died 1968 Virginia Beach, Virginia) was the adopted daughter and only child of the then Governor of Virginia Mills E. Godwin, Jr. (1914-1999) and Katherine Beale Godwin, of Chuckatuck, Virginia, a small community then in Nansemond County which is now a part of Suffolk).

In August 1968, Becky Godwin, aged fifteen, was spending a day with her mother at Virginia Beach while her father, then in his first term as Virginia governor, attended the 1968 Democratic Convention. With the customary state police nearby, she had just stepped out of the surf onto the sand when she was struck by lightning. Several people were in the vicinity either on the beach or in the surf, but Godwin was the only one affected. It was a clear sunny day with no storms in the area. Although rushed to a hospital, she never regained consciousness. [ [http://hamptonroads.com/2008/01/im-so-tickled-im-here-says-91yearold-former-first-lady-virginia 'I'm so tickled I'm here' says 91-year-old former first lady of Virginia | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com ] ]

Memorials

There are three scholarships set up in Becky Godwin's name. There is the Becky Godwin Memorial college scholarship fund for the young people of Chuckatuck, Virginia and the Becky Godwin Fund at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. At Mills E. Godwin High School in Henrico County, the Becky Godwin Memorial Award is given annually to a senior selected by classmates. At Virginia Wesleyan College, there is the Becky Katherine Godwin Memorial Scholarship. Governor Godwin was a founding Trustee of the College. [cite news|url=http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950212/02100184.htm
accessdate=2008-04-17
date=1995-02-12
title=Godwin High Students Visit Their Namesake.
publisher=The Virginian-Pilot
pages=28]

References

External links

* [http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1968-8/1968-08-26-CBS-18.html CBS News report of the lightning strike]
* [http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1968-8/1968-08-29-CBS-17.html CBS News report of Becky's death]
* [http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GODWIN/1999-02/0918291988 Obituary of Mills Godwin, describes the incident]
* [http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99019.htm Frequency of Lightening Strikes to people]
* [http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/bulletins/archives/199899_UPB/17.pdf Pdf-VCU School of Nursing Honors and Awards]
* [http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=6793 Mills E. Godwin, Jr. Papers, 1947-1989] , Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library. Contains a small quantity of papers relating to Becky Godwin.