Rae Ann Margaret Goin

Rae Ann Margaret (Krause) Goin, 89, passed away peacefully, on October 29, 2025, in Yakima, Washington. During her short time in Yakima, she made numerous friends at Fieldstone at Orchard West Assisted Living, where she was among the first to greet and befriend new residents and help them feel comfortable in their new home. She maintained her quick, witty personality throughout her life—along with her love for her dog, Holly; her passion for gardening; and her deep and devoted love for her family.

What a life she has had—so full of adventure, fun, love, and sometimes heartbreak.

She loved her family fiercely and was always there for them in every way possible—from offering childcare, to helping during recovery, to volunteering in classrooms, painting homes, helping with moves, buying groceries for family (and sometimes almost complete strangers), washing grimy football jerseys, and standing up for what was right in too many situations to name.

She was not only a mom, aunt, sister, cousin, grandmother, and great-grandmother, but also a dear friend and confidant to many. We’ve all had so much fun with her over the years. She traveled often—mostly for work and golf—but also to visit family in Oregon, California, Colorado, New Jersey, Germany, Bemidji, Minnesota, and Atlanta, Georgia. She loved shopping, poking around antique stores and garage sales, and finding interesting treasures. Not everyone loves shopping, but she did—and it was such fun to share in her adventures.

Her first five years were spent in Bemidji, Minnesota, living next door to her Grandma Krause, who always had cookies, fresh bread, and lots of hugs available for her favorite granddaughter. Grandma also had a large garden that became an ice-skating rink in the winter months—a popular hangout for neighborhood kids and their families all season long.

At age five, her family packed up their car and drove to Seattle, where her dad began work for Isaacson Iron Works and her mom joined the war effort, working for Boeing. She had many fond memories of those next six years adventuring around Seattle until tragedy struck—her dad was electrocuted by a faulty welding machine and died. She was just eleven years old. Life changed dramatically after that and became quite unsettled for a few years. She and her mother moved to Salinas, California, for a short time before eventually settling in Kennewick, Washington.

Rae Ann's first friend in Kennewick loved roller skating. They even made some of their own skating costumes. Through her, Rae Ann was introduced to a wonderful group of people who met often to skate. One of them was a young man who was both a skating instructor and a pilot. They often flew to Walla Walla, where he taught classes—and after class, they skated to their heart’s content. It was always funny to hear her mother’s reaction to all this, even forty years later.

In 1953, Rae Ann met and married, Kenneth (Ken) Wayne Goin. Interestingly, he still had a year left to serve in the U.S. Navy. While he was away, Rae Ann rebuilt the engine on his car and then drove it to San Diego to pick him up when he was discharged. There were many colors of fingernail polish used to label parts involved in that project—and a few pieces left over—but it ran like a charm!

When they returned to the Northwest, Ken went to work for Jacobson & Sons in Portland, Oregon, and Rae Ann worked for Semler Dentistry as a dental assistant—a skill she had learned in high school while working in Dr. Rousek’s office. After a couple of years in Portland, Ken’s work took them to Dayton, Washington, where he helped build grain elevators and Rae Ann worked as a waitress.

A few years later, the two decided to go into the cattle business with Ken’s father, Jesse Goin. They leased a place on District Line Road just outside Benton City and started raising dairy cows, which soon evolved into a beef operation. In 1964, they bought a 40-acre farm just north of Whitstran, on McCreadie Road. Along with their two daughters, Cindy (6) and Susan (5), and a few head of cattle, they began the busy and unpredictable life of raising an ever-growing herd.

The 40-acre farm soon became too small, so they leased pastures in the area and started trucking cattle back and forth for the next several years. It was an extremely challenging, exhausting, and expensive time for this young family. All the while, Ken continued working in heavy construction, and Rae Ann worked for Prosser Pack, a potato processing plant, as a lab technician. With all those mouths to feed, everyone had a job to do.

Around that time, their third daughter, Kari, was born in 1971, and they bought a house in Prosser, Washington, on Myrtle Avenue. By the early 1980s, they decided they’d had enough of the cattle business and sold the herd, which had grown to around 300 head.

The home in Prosser had a huge yard, and Rae Ann worked in it almost daily. It was beautiful, and she was extremely proud of it.

Once her daughters were mostly grown, she decided to take art classes and experimented with several mediums. She always had an artistic flair, and her favorite was oil painting. She also dabbled in stained glass before finding her true passion—golf!

She had learned to play golf as a teenager but had to set it aside for many years. She played at Lower Valley Golf Course (later Black Rock Creek Golf Course), where she and Ken became members. She took lessons, practiced, played in tournaments, and won many golf events. She was a 12-time Ladies Club Champion and participated in—and won—many other club and regional events. She also served on the boards of both her ladies’ golf group and the golf club, and she was a fabulous fundraiser, instrumental in securing money for many of the course’s improvements over the years. She played regularly until Ken’s health began to fail in 2013. He passed away in 2015. Sadly, Rae Ann’s last summer of golf was in 2016. She hated giving it up, but her health made it too difficult to continue.

In 2018, she moved from their home of 47 years on Myrtle Avenue to a smaller home on Eastgate Court. As her health continued to decline, she decided to move to Yakima and into Fieldstone at Orchard West Assisted Living, where she thrived and made many wonderful friends.

Rae Ann wanted to be remembered as blessed, helpful, grateful, fun-loving, a teaser, storyteller, gardener, passionate, fair-minded, a reader, and a golfer!

Rae Ann is preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Kenneth Wayne Goin, and her parents, Raymond Walter Krause and Margaret Lucille (Stevens) Coleman. She is survived by her daughters, Cindy Goin, Susan Seeley (Chuck), and Kari Campbell (Cray); her sister, Jane Woodward (Jeff); her grandchildren, Jeff Graff (Vicki), Justin Graff (Jessica), Steven Seeley (Zondria), and Kristin Cornett; and her great-grandchildren,Jarren, Austin, Stella, Harli, Claire, Cole, and Tallon—as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

The family would like to say a sincere, wholehearted “Thank You” to all of Rae Ann’s wonderful private caregivers—Keri, Stephanie, Tess, Cyndi, Rae, Brittany, Kapriana, HopeBridge caregivers, Elena, Ashley, Eva, Mary, Ariel, MultiCare Memorial Hospice, and Fieldstone at Orchard West Assisted Living Caregivers. Rae Ann's care team provided the most respectful and loving care--spoiling her daily.  The attentiveness given to Rae Ann, maintained her dignity throughout her Hospice journey.    

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Semper Fi Fund, Humane Society, Save the Bees, or the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission.

 Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at the Smith Funeral Home in Sunnyside, WA.  Those wishing to sign Rae Ann's online memorial book may do so at www.funeralhomesmith.com   Smith Funeral Home is in care of arrangements. 

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