Obituary of Harold Goodwin

GOODWIN ~ Harold William Goodwin passed away peacefully in the Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at the age of 68 years. Harold will be sadly missed by his wife Lilly; daughter Jana Rudrick; half brother Mervin Cooper as well as numerous other relatives. Harold was predeceased by both his parents and his daughter Kara and numerous other in-laws and relatives. The funeral service was conducted from the First Lutheran Church, Lloydminster, Alberta on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 2:00 P.M. with Pastor Howard Ulmer officiating. The hymns sung were "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "Sent Forth By God's Blessing" accompanied on the organ by Brenda Findlay. My husband was a special gift to me that I will forever cherish. He was a gentle and kind man of chosen words who brought stability and calmness into my life. His sense of humor had me laughing frequently and his wisdom and knowledge constantly amazed me. He was my leveler when I needed to see issues more clearly. He will always be my best friend and soul mate for eternity. I sincerely thank God for him. With love always, Lilly CARD OF THANKS Thank you to Dr. Rogers for his many calls and support to us over these last months. Also to Dr. Chan for his care of Harold over many years. A special thank you to all the nurses on 3rd Floor, including ICU and transition. You were so kind to Harold and to Jana and I. Thank you so very much. You do your jobs so well and with such compassion. We were very lucky to have had you. Also to all the Lab Staff that have been so wonderful to Jana. You have been so kind and supportive. Thank you! Glenn, you were comforting, compassionate and professional, as usual. Arnie, thank you for your visit with Harold. He told me he enjoyed it very much. Also, for your calls and visits with Jana and I. Brenda, you are the best - thank you for being there for us. I knew you would be. Pastor Ulmer, although we don't know each other well and you never met Harold, you had a wonderful way of ministering to us. Thank you for officiating at Harold's service. To the Honorary and Active Pallbearers, thank you. It was the last special gift you gave to Harold and to us. Shirley, thank you for sitting with us the night of Harold's passing and for being there for us all week. Erna and Hubert, what would we have done without you? Thank you for moving in on Monday and taking care of us and everything all week. Hubert, Harold would have said about the eulogy, "Very Good". From him, that was a great compliment. To our American Family, thank you for the catered hot meal the evening of the service. It was so nice to come home and not have to take care of anything. To Marianne and her staff, Harold enjoyed working with all of you for these last number of years. To everyone at T'N'T and Ventures, thank you for all the calls and support. You don't know how much you have meant to us right now. For all of the other calls, cards, donations, flowers, visits and food, thank you. You know who you are. We know we must have missed some of you, but please forgive us. It has been a difficult time, but we do appreciate you. The love and support from family and friends has been quite overwhelming. A simple thank you doesn't really seem enough to say to all of you, but it's all we have right now. God Bless You All. Lilly and Jana EULOGY HAROLD GOODWIN March 21, 1942 – March 12, 2011 Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Hubert and I am Lilly's brother-in law and by extension Harold's brother-in-law also. When Lilly asked if I would do the eulogy, my immediate reaction was no way would I do it, that someone else surely had to be more qualified and knew him better. But by the time I arrived in Lloyd I knew that I would accept the challenge, but I had to keep her guessing. We can say she talked me into it, saying that I had known him for just about 30 years --- and she gave a few other reasons too. So here I am, and you're going to have to put up with me for a few minutes. Plagiarism will run rampant here because I am not much for original thought in matters like this, nor am I an orator and I am sure some of the people here will recognize their own words. Harold was born in London, Ontario at St. Joe's hospital on March 21, 1942 to Bessie and William Goodwin. His father went overseas to serve in the war. When he was discharged in 1946, he got some VLA land around McLaughlin, just south of Lloydminster and moved his young family there. He died there in 1947 when Harold was 5. Harold's mother never spoke much about Harold's father, but Harold does remember playing under the kitchen table while his parents played cards with friends. In the few pictures of Harold's dad, we found out that Harold was the spitting image of him. After Harold's dad passed away, his mother went back home to Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan with Harold. Then they moved to Regina, where she worked in the hospital and Harold began school. She and Harold lived in a rooming house, where there were 3 or 4 rooms and one common bathroom down the hall. The story he always told was that she would sometimes have to go to work before he went to school. So she would make some porridge for him on their hot plate in their room. Harold absolutely hated it. So after she left, he would go to their door and peek down the hall to see that there was no one there. Then hurry to the bathroom with the porridge and dump it. He never ever told her about it. Then she started working as a housekeeper for various people in Regina. When Harold and Lilly were in Regina, he took her to all the houses they lived in and all 5 schools that he attended in only a few short years. Lilly asked him how they moved to each place, and he said, by taxi, with a suitcase. They basically had nothing. He remembers his mother taking him by the hand every Saturday afternoon and taking him to a matinee. He said she hated the cowboy westerns, because they were too gruesome and too much shooting, etc. After they went to one, she wouldn't take him to those anymore. Harold was disappointed. She left him with her parents in Willow Bunch every summer. Harold had such fond memories of being on the farm and the trip on the train to and from Regina. When Harold was about 11 or12, his mother married Len Cooper and moved to Lloydminster where they lived in a small house on the Saskatchewan side of town just south of highway 16. It was here in Lloydminster where Harold's half brother, Mervin was born. Harold worked many jobs throughout his teens, including car-hopping at Chicken in the Ruff, helping his stepdad on the farm, stocking shelves at a grocery store, working at the drive-in (in the days when they actually went around and washed the car windows) and setting pins at the bowling alley. He would sit at the end between the lanes and reset the pins. He said there was one guy that could really throw the ball, and he had to be very careful not to get hit by his flying pins. In high school, Harold was very athletic and played almost every sport – from curling, to hockey, to football and his favorite, basketball. Lilly never realized how good he was, until she found all the newspaper clippings that his mother kept. He enjoyed watching almost any and all sports and kept himself well informed until the day he died. I might also add at this point that he also watched and read the news and kept up to date on current events. After graduating high school in 1960, he started working for T.D. Thrower and took his CA designation by correspondence. Harold completed his CA certificate in 1969 and began his own practice in 1971. He sold his practice in 1997, but still kept a few clients. Harold worked very hard and long, long hours, but had a fine reputation in his profession. He was thorough and honest throughout. His staff was the very, very best and they became known as the "Goodwin girls". To them he was known as Mr. G. These girls had arranged that he be given the "Boss of the Year" award at a Reeves banquet that Harold attended, where he was giving the Accounting Award. He was very honored and humbled. Undoubtedly the staff was upset when he decided to close the office but I am sure they realized that he needed some down time to enjoy a break from a lifetime of hard work. Here are a few annotated quotes: "He gave me my first job out of high school and what he taught me about patience, accuracy, ethics and the power of humor to relieve tension are not found in any textbook. Three generations of our family have depended on Harold's wise counsel and I was proud to be one of the clients he kept after the sale of his practice." "Harold was well respected in his profession, and deservedly so." "He was one of the most ethical and compassionate people that I knew, and all of us 'Goodwin Girls' were very fond of 'Mister G'. I consider myself lucky to have had him as a boss." "We will always remember Harold's warm smile and quiet presence. Strength, integrity and pride of family were always mirrored in Harold's life." He married Evelyn Schaefer in July, 1967 and they were blessed with 2 daughters, Jana in 1970 and Kara in 1971. He married Lilly in 1984 and theirs was one of those special relationships. I dare say that Harold was the calm one and Lilly was the excitable one. They did everything together, from going to coffee every day to meet friends and working together for many years. They loved to travel, and Harold's favorite trip was seeing the Panama Canal on one of their cruises. He loved his girls and they went on many holidays together. Harold and Lilly in the front seat and Jana and Kara in the back. They always laughed about the time they drove to Yellow Stone and then on to San Francisco. They would climb in the car at 8 or 9 in the am and within 15 minutes Jana and Kara would be asleep. They would wake at 11:30 to eat lunch, sleep again and wake for supper. Then they would be up all night and want to do stuff. Harold and Lilly say that the kids never saw one bit of the countryside, but they had a great time together. In his adult years, he held almost every position in this church, and served on many boards. He also held numerous positions on local boards in the community. Harold had a quiet strong faith in God and that His will was done, but not always understood. Harold and Lilly along with his children Jana and Kara attended church on a regular basis. He was also auditor of the church until a few years ago. This he did on a volunteer basis and did not want to be paid. He also spent time helping whoever it might be that would be doing the books in any given year. I know that one of the hardest times in Harold's life was the loss of Kara in 1992. He and Lilly went through a terrible time, but held to each other and accepted that God needed her and had a special plan for her. A couple of years ago Jana moved back to Lloydminster after having trained in Regina and then moving to Ontario where she lived and worked for several years. It should be noted that when she moved back he really was happy about it. She would pop in all the time, and he would always have a special smile for her, no matter how he felt. Jana has been such a help to Lilly, and Lilly feels that it was God's hand that had her move back here to be with her dad. Harold was a sincere, kind, honest man of few words. He was determined to enjoy life and had a great sense of humor and through it all he maintained a calm almost serene demeanor even when everything seemed to be going wrong. He never carried a grudge. If someone hurt him, Lilly would ask him if he still felt bitter. And he would tell her that he had forgiven that person long ago. He said life was too short to carry that around. He was Lilly's rock and leveler. They were each other's soul mates. She says she got lucky and God gave him to her and she will always feel blessed having as many years as they had. In many ways, Harold would be somewhat uncomfortable with these words of remembrance. He was a quiet and very humble man. He NEVER blew his own horn, but if someone paid him homage or complimented him, he was sometimes a little embarrassed, but within, very proud. He related to Lilly, how after a certain basketball game, that he had a hand in winning, the players carried him on their shoulders. He said he was embarrassed, but very proud that he had done well. Anyone who knew Harold knew he had a secret vise. It turns out that he was a closet gambler. He enjoyed the slots and escaped to Vegas whenever he could. He had a built in excuse to go there after tax season as Lilly's birthday was about that time and for many years they celebrated it there. It was the perfect opportunity to unwind. He was quite disciplined about his addiction however and kept meticulous records. He would set himself a daily limit and he would play until he either lost it or got tired of playing. One never knew if he was going for an hour or all day; it was dependent on luck or mood. I think however on this point Kenny Roger's said it best in song: the gambler finally broke even. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Harold was of Irish descent on his father's side and today is St. Patrick's Day. I know he never said much about it but it was always in the back of his mind because he had mentioned a few times of his desire to go to Ireland. Hence the shamrock today. Harold was a man, a husband, a father and a friend. He had an unshakeable faith that things would turn out as they should. He lived the golden rule in my opinion and along the way collected many friends who I see here in front of me today to wish him Godspeed wherever he may be. Now finally let me end with an Old Irish Toast: May your neighbors respect you, Trouble neglect you, The angels protect you, And heaven accept you. Goodbye my friend and travel safe. Thank you. Donations in memory of Harold may be made to the Kidney Foundation, Heart & Stroke Foundation and charity of choice.