Obituary

Mathis Winkler

Allen Lowell Goody, a longtime Newport Beach resident who used his

business skills to help students enter the working world, died Thursday

from pulmonary fibrosis. He was 68.

“He never lost his desire to further his education and to help others

further their education,” said Mr. Goody’s wife, Pat, adding that she

will always remember her late husband’s courage.

“He had major illnesses in his life,” she said. “The way he came

through with dignity will always stay with me.”

Born in Denver, Colo., Mr. Goody attended Stanford University and

received engineering and business degrees from the University of

Colorado. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Cal

State Long Beach and completed UCLA’s executive management program later

in life.

Mr. Goody started his career working for the Navy’s Naval Research

Labs, before joining Chevrolet in Detroit, where he helped to design the

Corvette.

In the early 1960s, he and Pat moved back to California, where Mr.

Goody took a job with the Ford Motor Co.’s Aerospace Division. The couple

moved to Eastbluff, and Pat taught in the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District for 17 years. Mr. Goody stayed with Ford for 26 years, until his

retirement in 1990 as a vice president.

While still involved with the company as a member of its community

relations committee, Mr. Goody also began working as the executive

director of Vital Link Orange County, a nonprofit organization dedicated

to helping high school students gain additional skills to help them get

and keep a job.

Hailing Mr. Goody as “one of the most dedicated business

representatives in Orange County,” Vital Link board co-chairs Tony

Burnham and Lorraine Dageforde expressed their sadness about his death to

Pat Goody in a letter.

“No greater model of integrity and dedication will be found to carry

forward the important work of Vital Link,” they wrote. “The board wishes

to acknowledge with boundless appreciation the contribution of this

community giant.”

Mr. Goody also was a member of several other committees, organizations

and groups, including the Measure M Citizens Oversight Committee,

Leadership Tomorrow, the Orange County Transportation Authority and the

Orange County Business and Education Round Table.

His daughter Karen, who works as a school principal in Denver, said

Mr. Goody’s core values of integrity, responsibility and courage will be

passed on for generations in the family.

“He didn’t only talk the talk, he walked the walk,” she said. “He was

in every sense a true gentleman.”

In addition to his wife and Karen, Mr. Goody is survived by another

daughter, Joanne, as well as four grandchildren, Bryan, Elizabeth,

Matthew and Katie. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. today at

Mariners Church, 5001 Newport Coast Drive, Irvine.