Dr. William Jennings Goodwin Jr.

Bill was born in Virginia and lived on the family farm which was the remainder of the plantation owned by his mother’s family (Johnson). He had one sister Kathrine (deceased) and one brother Edward who lives in Scottsville, Virginia. His grandfather died in 1937 when he was twelve and his father worked seventeen miles away, so he had to take over all the responsibilities of the farm.

After high school he was drafted into the US Army to fight in WW2. In July of 1944 he landed on Omaha Beach. He served in the Fourth Armored Tank Division under General Patton. During the Battle of the Bulge they captured the Orhdolf Concentration Camp, the first one liberated by allied troops.

Returning home he worked for the Veterans Administration and started college at the University of Maryland. He met his wife Kathleen Turner there and they were married 6 weeks later. She worked at the Pentagon as a WAC. They enrolled at Oklahoma State University to be near her family. They moved to New York where he received his Masters and PhD in Entomology from Cornell University. Their son James Alan Goodwin was born there. His first job out of college was as an Associate Professor at Clemson University where their daughter Susan Ann Goodwin was born.

In 1957 he joined the Public Health Service, packed up his family and moved to Libya to fight malaria. They spent four years there and another two years in Haiti. He came back to DC to work for the National Institute of Health as a Branch Chief issuing government grants to seven primate research facilities across the United States. He retired from the Public Health Service with 29 years of service. He worked as an administrator at the Oregon Regional Primate Center for 3 years and then for the Medical Research Facility in San Antonio, Texas for 17 years. After retirement he volunteered every Friday for 10 years at the ICU desk at St. Vincent’s Hospital accruing over 2000 hours.

He and Kathleen traveled to 40 countries during their marriage and she received a Masters Degree in Painting from American University. They returned to Oregon to retire and spend time with their children and grandchildren. Their son James passed away in 2004, and Kathleen passed away in 2010.

He is survived by his daughter Susan O’Day and his four grandchildren, Katie O’Day, Megan O’Day-Kappler, Daphne Goodwin and Chad Goodwin.

Donations can be made to the Wounded Warriors Foundation or the Salvation Army.