Jamie Joseph Goode

Jamie was born on August 28, 1935 in Savannah, GA to Jamie C. and Margaret (Nelson) Goode. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1957, received his PhD in mathematics from the University of North Carolina in 1962, and taught mathematics at Ga Tech for his entire career. On June 8, 1957, he married Imogene Medlock Talley. They lived in Peachtree Hills and raised four children who all ended up working in education or public service.

Jamie, who was the oldest of five siblings, was preceded in death by his youngest brother, Tony, and his sister, Margaret (Sissy; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur). He is survived by his wife of 63 years Imogene (Genie), his four children, Dan (Cynthia), Marian Rosenberg, Mike (Margaret), and Kathy (Phil) McGonegal, his twin brothers Joe and Bernie, nine grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and a slew of nieces and nephews.

Jamie was a lifelong parishioner at The Cathedral of Christ the King after having spent lots of time there as a child when his father died in 1949 leaving a single mother with five young children. He attended Marist High School and, briefly, seminary in Pennsylvania. In retirement he walked or bicycled from home daily to attend mass. He volunteered with Buckhead Christian Ministries as their computer guru.

Jamie was a gifted athlete most of his life. He joined the swim team briefly as an undergraduate at Ga Tech since he was unable to float and therefore unable to pass the swim test which was a requirement for all students. He also ran track and cross country as a “yellow jacket”. In 1954, the year the 4 minute mile barrier was first broken, he ran a 4:13.9 mile. As his children began to play soccer he picked up that sport coaching, traveling the state as a referee at all levels, and playing religiously every Sunday with international students and faculty at Ga Tech. Likewise when all four children began to run middle distance in high school he also ran completing many July 4th Peachtree Road Races and accumulating trophies in his age division at many road races. In 1980 he completed his one and only marathon running (and walking) the hilly Atlanta Marathon. He was determined to complete the race and he did, but it was not a pretty sight.

Another way he stayed fit most of his life was by commuting daily by bicycle down Peachtree and Spring Streets to Ga Tech. Some admired this thriftiness and fitness, others thought him crazy as he tempted Death daily, but for him, it just made good sense.

Jamie loved to be outside in the natural world. Family vacations that were not to visit relatives always included camping in the mountains where he would lead hikes through the woods identifying trees along the way as Genie identified the wildflowers. He loved to take grandchildren on geocaching treks where along with following the clues he would occasionally pose, to any who would entertain it, a mathematical problem to solve. In the late 1970s, as part of a street beautification project in Peachtree Hills, he planted many ginkgo and maples throughout the neighborhood. The one he planted in his own front yard, unknowingly fed by the city’s waste water system, outpaced all others and became a vertical playground for all nine grandchildren. In retirement he and Genie would walk the neighborhood, or head off to some hidden park in the city, or climb the peaks around their Ellijay “Rest Home”, to visit some significant tree. He did this partly in service to Trees Atlanta, locating, measuring, and logging champion trees, but mostly out of his love for trees, being outside, and being with his wife. In the last few years of his life he devoted himself to the daily care of his wife, Genie, as she progressed in her journey with Alzheimer’s.

Jamie volunteered in the genealogy research area at the Atlanta History Center. He enjoyed tracing family lines and visiting cemetery markers throughout the South. He found wisdom and moral teaching in his Catholic faith as well as The Andy Griffith Show. He was an early adopter of technology and brought home very basic computers even before the Commodore or Atari existed. He always enjoyed a good puzzle; from logic and tavern puzzles to Freecell shared with brothers to Fan Tan with grandchildren to ongoing jigsaw puzzles with everyone. He enjoyed good food, especially a good Vidalia onion piled so high on a hotdog it would make his eye twitch to fit it all in his mouth. He also enjoyed a good drink which included a martini early on and then a good gin and tonic in a tall glass wearing britches. We will all miss his joy for life and his steadfast love of people.

In lieu of flowers: donations to The Cathedral of Christ the King, St. Vincent de Paul or Alzheimer’s Assn.