John and Mae Pickford

John, born in Waynesboro, Virginia, and raised in Georgia, spent summers working on the family farm in Mechums River, Virginia.  He attended the University of Virginia between 1959 and 1968, acquiring both undergraduate and graduate degrees.  In 1963, he moved to Lynchburg, where he met and married Mae Goodman. 

Pursuing a career in probation and corrections he started in the Probation Division of the Commonwealth’s 24th Judicial Division system in Lynchburg.  After ten years he joined the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in the Western Judicial District of Virginia.  His office was in the local Federal Courthouse and work responsibilities covered an area from Richmond, Virginia, west to Lee County, and all points north and south within the Virginia border.  John retired in 1994, and subsequently was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to work as a Special Investigator responsible for conducting background security investigations. He remained in this job until 2015, when he retired a second time.

During and after his career, John has been involved in volunteer work, and presently is a Centra volunteer at Virginia Baptist Hospital, plus he and Mae occasionally help out with the Hospice program. 

Mae Goodman Pickford was born in Ronceverte, West Virginia, and raised in nearby Lewisburg, West Virginia.  She attended and received a degree at Florida State University.  Following graduation, Mae moved to Lynchburg where she had relatives and began a 30+ year career with the 24th District Court Service Unit in Lynchburg.  She progressed in various positions to ultimately be named the Director of the Juvenile Court Services Unit and remained as such until 1991 when she retired.  In 1978, the Lynchburg Bar Association jointly honored John and Mae for their professional work and contributions to the community with the presentation of the Liberty Bell Award, a recognition given for the first time to probation personnel. Soon after retirement, Mae joined friends to work as a retail employee at The Paper Express in the Gallaria on Main Street in downtown Lynchburg.  Ten years later when the store was sold, she turned her considerable talents and interests to volunteering with Centra, plus serving in various areas at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

John and Mae have two sons, John, Jr. who resides in Lynchburg and William, a resident of Harrisonburg, Virginia.  They also have one cat, Clawedette.   Recreationally, John and Mae enjoy early morning walks, cooking together, and travelling.  They have visited most of the national parks in the United States, been ballooning, zip lining in Alaska, made numerous visits to the Caribbean, plus fished in the beautiful Canadian wilderness.  They have especially relished the many New Year’s celebrations spent with friends and family in Las Vegas.