Rhonda Carol Cornell

A funeral mass will be held for Rhonda Carol Cornell at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Telfair Street in Augusta, Georgia on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 10:00 AM. All are welcome to attend.

Rhonda Carol Cornell was someone you could not forget. Lovingly known as Ron, Ms. Rhonda, Mama Rhonda, Mom, Mama, and Rockin’ Rhonda, she was rockin’ Augusta in her early years by dancing, cheerleading, playing basketball and softball, academically excelling, and looking after her three siblings, Henry Karl Cornell (Myra), Clifford Cornell and Jacob Busbia.

She grew up in Augusta, GA, attended Glen Hills High School, and finished her Bachelor of Science in early childhood education at the University of Georgia, a source of pride for her, the Cornells, and their beloved sports! She even attended a Master of Science program in early childhood education. Rhonda had a distinct laugh and voice, as well as a love for people, Jesus, travel, and animals. She loved to dance, sing, be silly, and unapologetically have fun with her close friends and her child Megan.

Rhonda was proud of all three of her Goetz children, Austin Taylor, Dylan Egan (Erin) and Megan Elizabeth (Skylar). They were her reason for everything, and she considered them her greatest accomplishment. She was incredible: a Delta flight attendant for 18 years and an elementary school teacher for 7 (including teacher of the year) at Bayvale Elementary School. She earned a living in whatever ways she knew how in order to provide for her children: tax assistant, library assistant, furniture and clothing store saleswoman, and a caregiver for the elderly and canine.

She led first an adult life of adventure and whim and subsequently one of settling down with family - from scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef 4 times to converting to Catholicism in her 30s. Throughout her entire life, she was resilient and strong. She raised her three children in the Roman Catholic religion and continued to be a woman of faith until her dying day. She was a parishioner of Most Holy Trinity before she and her kids became parish members of St. Teresa of Avila, where she even taught Faith Formation and led all of her children through Confirmation.

She married Michael Egan Goetz in Florida, who became the father of her children, before moving their family to Augusta, Georgia where she raised all of her children just as where she was born and raised.

She courageously fought breast cancer from 2016 until 2026, including metastatic breast cancer from 2019-2026. She taught her children perseverance, optimism, Catholicism, to be unapologetically themselves, to stand up for yourself and what is right, and to be friendly to others. Living in Georgia, Massachusetts, Florida, and then back in Georgia (as well as South Carolina), she always had a unique sense of humor and was still cracking jokes, laughing, and smiling with family, friends, and strangers alike until the last day she could.

As Megan heard in one of her final prayers, “Please Jesus, return (her)…to how you made (her).” Her loved ones all love and miss her, forever and always. They are always with her, and she will always be with them.