Bill Ellzey: Bidding a final farewell to Houma's 'Mother Goose' Bill Ellzey The end was expected, but not so quickly. Virginia De Fraites, who called herself "Mother Goose," died early Sunday, in Houma, finally overcome by the rare, slow-growing but incurable cancer she had been fighting since 1995. She had recently been told that time was short and responded by resolving to make the best of what time she had left. She did not mourn or complain. "Dying to me will be like another great adventure," she had said. "It will be a trip wherein I won't have to pack a suitcase or worry about plane schedules, and it will be an exhilarating time. ... It will be fantastic."