Emma Mildred Gould

Emma Mildred Nisbet Gould, 89, of Chambersburg died peacefully on Friday, July 12, 2019, at Menno Haven Retirement Community in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, after a brief struggle with cancer. Her sons were at her bedside. Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, on March 5, 1930, Mrs. Gould was the daughter of the late Benjamin Dinsmore Nisbet, Sr., and Mabel Pillow Nisbet.
Mrs. Gould graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1952 with a BA in English. She taught at a junior high school in southern Ohio, then went to Indiana University, where she earned a masters degree in counselling. She subsequently held positions at Randolph-Macon Women’s College (now Randolph College) in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where she met her husband, the late Dr. Glen Gould. They married in 1957, had two sons, Lige and Warren, and moved in 1966 to Chambersburg, where her husband was chair of the music department at Wilson College. After serving as director of career placement at Wilson College, Mrs. Gould spent nearly two decades as a guidance counsellor with the Chambersburg Area School District, working at the high school. During the 1972-73 academic year, she and her family lived in Scotland where Dr. Gould was a visiting faculty member at the University of Aberdeen. She retired in 1993.
During her years as a guidance counsellor, Mrs. Gould was a tireless advocate for her students, with a strong sense of equity and justice and a soft spot for those who needed a second chance. She believed passionately in the cause of civil rights, and was with her husband when he directed the Wilson College Choir at the National Cathedral in March 1968 for Dr. Martin Luther King’s last Sunday sermon before his murder. From her upbringing in the Disciples of Christ, she had a lifelong commitment to an inclusive faith, where all are welcome at God’s table. She held strong political convictions to the end, was blessed with many good friends, and had a contagious, often mischievous sense of humor. The only thing that Millie Gould loved more than teasing others, was being teased herself.
Above all, Mrs. Gould was devoted to her family. Her beloved husband Glen died in 2008, months after they celebrated fifty years of marriage with their children and grandchildren. She is survived by her two sons, Eliga H. Gould and his wife Nicoletta Gullace of Durham, New Hampshire, and Warren N. Gould and his wife Rebecca Henegar Gould of Durham, North Carolina, and five grandchildren: Alexander, Charles, Benjamin, Emma Hilary, and Samuel.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday, July 20, at 10 am in the chapel of Menno Haven Retirement Community, 2011 Scotland Avenue, Chambersburg. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Mildred Gould’s name to a charity of the donor’s choice focusing on ministries of mercy, personal or community development, or helping the disadvantaged and people on society’s margins.