Gerald Thomas Goodwin

Gerald T. Goodwin passed away on May 2, 2020. He was born on September 27, 1922. He lived 97 fascinating years. He moved from the farm in Hastings, NB with his family to Denver when he was in his late teens and graduated from Cathedral High School. It was at the end of the great depression. His family moved on to California and Jerry stayed in Denver. He found a job with Reese Coffee Houses and remained with the company for the next 60 years. Jerry married Nana Millikin in 1944. Jerry and Nan remained married until her death in 2005. They raised five children – Dan, Diane, Donna, Deborah and Richard. There have been 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren added to the extended family. Jerry and Nan were the source of a large diverse family. Jerry and Nan will be missed by this large family, who now have large shoes to fill in order to maintain the example of family set by them.

From very humble beginnings, Jerry emerged as a champion in the restaurant business. He eventually became the owner of the Reese Coffee Houses. His many accomplishments included President of the Colorado/Wyoming Restaurant Association, President of the Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau, Board member for President Carter’s first White House Conference on Small Business, on the Board of Directors of the National Restaurant Association, Chairman of the Culinary Institute of America-Denver, and President of the Valley Country Club.

His love beyond family and business was sports of any kind. He played football, baseball, skied and, as he aged beyond high school, he played softball and enjoyed bowling until late in life. However, his passion was golf. Jerry’s last round of golf was played when he was 94. His insistence of playing according to the exact rules of golf was his undoing. He fell while in a sand trap trying to hit a ball while he had one foot set three feet above the other. He was so unbalanced that when he fell he tore a shoulder muscle. That injury eventually sent him to a two-year stint in the nursing home where he eventually died.

A celebration of life for Jerry will be scheduled at a later date.

Jerry’s family would love you to remember him as the gentle, kind man that he was and, if you are willing to make a financial gift in his name, it would be to CureDuchenne.org.

A message of condolence or memory of Jerry may be left at www.olingerchapelhill.com