Leila Goldfinch Bass

Leila Goldfinch Bass died at her home in Forsyth, September 9, 2021 after a long period of declining health. 

She was born in 1943 in Salto, Uruguay, where her parents, Sydney Langston and Frances McCaw Goldfinch, were Southern Baptist missionaries.   She grew up in Asuncion, Paraguay, where she attended Colegio Internacional.

She completed her undergraduate degree at Carson Newman College, where she was recognized as the best German major in her graduating class.  [Of course, she was the only German major in her class.]

Upon graduation, she joined the Peace Corps, working with English teachers in Tolima, Colombia. There she met her future husband, Ralph Bass.    Returning to the United States, she taught French in Granville County, N. C.

After her marriage in 1969, she moved to Forsyth, where she and Ralph raised their daughter Paquita.   For more than thirty years she taught students Spanish at Mary Persons High School. Years later those Spanish students warmly recall her caring teaching style and  the annual field trips to her home for black beans, rice, and picadillo.

Four times students selected her Star Teacher.

For many years she was a full-season subscriber to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and weekends often found her attending performances at Spivey Hall in Morrow.

She was a member of the Forsyth Book Club and, even though not especially interested in history, she was a charter member of the Monroe County Historical Society.

She is survived by her husband, Ralph Bass, their daughter Paquita Bass and her husband, Michael Plunkett, and their daughters, Susie Larue and Rose Varley Plunkett, all of Dedham, MA.  Her surviving siblings are Larue Goldfinch of San Jose, Costa Rica, and Lee Goldfinch of Medford, MA.

There will be a brief grave-side service on Wednesday, September 15 at 3:00 p.m. at Mt. Hebron Baptist Church near Cuthbert, Georgia.

The family will be at home to receive friends and family on Tuesday, September 14, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m.

Memorial donations may be made to Christ United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 162, Forsyth or to C. S. U. Foundation for Spivey Hall at 2000 Clayton State Blvd., Morrow, Georgia 30260.

Monroe County Memorial Chapel has charge of arrangements.