Lois Roslyn Goodman Ontell of Washington, DC passed away on Thursday, May 21. She was the daughter of Leo and Elizabeth Goodman, beloved wife of David Ontell, devoted mother of Lily (Carlos) Landau, loving sister of Joan (Anthony of blessed memory) Churchill and Maury (Sharon) Goodman, grandmother of Leo and Sara Landau, aunt and great aunt to 13 nieces and nephews, cousin, friend and neighbor to countless others.

Born on May 18, 1945, a native of Washington, DC, Lois graduated from Radcliffe/Harvard with a major in Economics and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Between college and law school, she served in the Peace Corps in India. She could have joined any law firm she wanted but from the beginning she championed social justice and sought to provide legal counsel and legal education to those who lacked economic means. At age 14 she joined protests with friends from Woodrow Wilson (now Jackson Reed) High School in favor of integration of lunch counters at Woolworths on F Street NW and Glen Echo Amusement Park.

Lois was involved in several notable legal matters in Georgia during the early 1980s, primarily working with Georgia Legal Services to fight for civil rights and parental rights. Her most prominent Georgia cases include:

• Edge v. Sumter County School District (1981): A federal class-action civil rights lawsuit where Attorney Goodman served as counsel representing Black residents of Sumter County, Georgia, challenging the county's at-large method of electing school board members under the Voting Rights Act.

• Blackburn Custody Case (1981–1982): A widely covered family law dispute in Millen, Georgia, in which Goodman represented a mother who had lost custody of her child following a ruling by a local judge who deemed her unfit because she had a child with a Black man. Goodman took the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals and sought intervention from the Georgia Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the custody decision.

• Wyley v. State (1983): An appeal argued by Lois Goodman before the Court of Appeals of Georgia regarding criminal procedure and evidence admissibility.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, May 26 at 9:30am at Washington Hebrew Congregation on Macomb St.

Memorial contributions may be made to either the Washington Hebrew Congregation Leo & Elizabeth Goodman Public Issues Fund or to  ACLU.

To live stream service please follow link: Main Livestream - Washington Hebrew Congregation. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.