Obituary of Lawrence Goodman

Lawrence E. (“Larry”) Goodman Lawrence E. (“Larry”) Goodman passed away peacefully early in the morning of Thursday, June 17, 2010 at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. In the hours before his passing, Larry had the opportunity to say goodbye to his surviving wife, Nancy, sons Mike, Dan, and Jon, daughter Jenny, their spouses Jenny, Tanya and Jamie, and his loving grandchildren Lillian, Evelyn, Violet, Joe, Samantha, Ryan, Erin, Katie, James, Claire, Anthony and Mikey. Larry is also survived by his sister Kathleen and an extended family of cousins with whom he had close and loving relationships. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sisters Beth and Priscilla. Larry retired in June of 1995 after teaching civil engineering for 18 years at Centralia College. He coached hundreds of graduates who have gone on to enjoy successful careers providing quality engineering services to benefit the public in Southwest Washington and elsewhere. Before teaching, Larry served as the Assistant Supervisor of the Division of Engineering of the State of Washington Dept. of Natural Resources, where he built many lasting professional and personal relationships. For many years, Larry and Nancy have been devoted members of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Olympia Larry’s personal relationship with the Lord was very important to him, and he was a strong witness to family and friends. His faith was a great comfort to him during his last hours. Larry and Nancy have been active members of their Jubilee neighborhood in Lacey since moving from their home on Long Lake in 2005. Larry loved to socialize with the neighbors, often rising early in the morning to pick up the paper and greet other early birds with a new (or old) joke or two. A long time lover of the outdoors, Larry particularly enjoyed going camping with family and friends in his fifth wheel. Although he met Nancy at Oregon State, Larry became a huge Husky fan over the years, perhaps hoping to recoup through football victory endorphins some of his substantial investment in UW tuition over the years for Mike and Jenny. For many years, Larry and Nancy purchased Husky season tickets next to their beloved friends Pastor David and Lori Steen. Larry had a wonderful singing voice and sang for many years in the church choir and with the “Jubilaires,” a neighborhood group. He even accompanied a ballet, despite the requirement that he wear tights. He was known as a prolific composer and performer of ditties about his kids, grandkids, pets, and miscellaneous other topics. The family has planned a memorial service at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd on Thursday, June 24, at 3:00 p.m. Condolences may be left online by clicking "View Guestbook" below. In lieu of flowers, Nancy asks that those who may be interested make a donation to the Foundation Fighting Blindness (www.blindness.org). (Larry’s and Nancy’s granddaughter Lillian suffers from Bardet-Biedl syndrome, an inherited degenerative retinal disease.)