Category: 1968

Jack Smith peacefully passed away surrounded by his loving family in Evergreen, Colorado.

Jack is remembered for his integrity, wry sense of humor, kindness, and his family loved his sense of adventure, dedication to loved ones, and his love of travel.

He spent 41 years as an esteemed Denver lawyer.

He is survived by wife Diane, daughter Amy, son Daniel and his wife Ursula and their 2 children.

A “Celebration of Life” will be held December 9th at 1 pm, at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary and Cemetery, in the Chapel of Peace. 7777 W. 29th Ave. Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033

Dr. Benjamin Goodman, Jr., passed away on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at the age of 77, surrounded by family and loved ones. He was born February 20, 1946, in Hickory, NC to Dr. Benny Goodman, Sr and Peggy Goodman, and was the oldest of four children.

Ben was a loving husband, parent, grandparent, sibling, doctor and friend to many in the Hickory community. Ben practiced medicine for 51 years, of which 10 years were alongside his father. Combined, he and his father, Dr. Benny Goodman, Sr., served the Hickory community for nearly a century as family physicians.

Ben was a 1964 graduate of Hickory High School, a 1968 graduate of Davidson College, and a 1972 graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical School. He completed his Family Medicine residency at Penn State in 1975. He also served the U.S. Army for 12 years retiring as a Lt Colonel. He was chosen to attend the National Endowment for the Humanities in Religious Studies at Harvard University in 1978. One of his proudest moments was an article that he authored in the American Journal of Medicine related to Temporal Arteritis – along with numerous articles and other medical journals. He was a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He also served as Professor and Director of Family Medicine Residency at Medical University of South Carolina from 1977-1988 where he met his nurse and wife of 43 years, Martha Goodman.

Ben and Martha have two surviving children, Robert Goodman of Bluffton, SC and Caroline McKinney of Hickory, NC. Robert, and his wife Karen, have a daughter, Sophia. Caroline, and her husband Kyle, have five children, Harper, Connor, Sawyer, Hunter and Grace. He was preceded in death by his third child, Eryan, in 2001. Ben was particularly close to his sister, Kathryn, and her husband, Lamar Lehman, and their children, Katy Lehman (Paul Brown) of Atlanta, GA and Pat Lehman (Melissa, Owen and Emory), of Greensboro, NC.

Ben had a tremendous love for his family, the care of his many beloved patients, baseball (go Braves!), reading, photography and everything UNC Tarheels. He will be remembered by many driving his red Mazda Miata around town with his treasured dog, Bob.

Please join us to celebrate Ben’s life at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 6, 2023, at First Presbyterian Church, 237 2nd St NW, Hickory, NC 28601 with the Rev. Richard Floyd officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in the fellowship hall.

Please bring your favorite memory or story to share with our family.

Donations can be made to the following – or charity of your choice:

Autism Society of North Carolina, Attention: Donations, 5121 Kingdom Way, #100, Raleigh, NC 27607 or Lupus Foundation of America, North Carolina Chapter, https://www.lupus.org/northcarolina/donate-now-1 .

James Alexander (Jack) Jackson, 8/11/46 – 3/18/23  Jack was born in Bad Reichenhall,  Bavaria, Germany to his mother Vivian Villers, an Estonian relocated to Germany by the Nazis during World War II, and his father James Jackson, a US soldier from Bennettsville, South Carolina who died soon after the war.  The Jackson family sponsored the immigration of Jack, his mother, grandmother and great aunt to the US in 1949.  They settled in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where they were active in the Estonian community. Jack was adopted by his grandfather Jackson and regularly visited his South Carolina family as a child.  Although Jack’s first language was German, he quickly acclimated to his adopted country.  A good student and athlete in public schools, Jack earned his BA from Davidson University with honors and was awarded a Fulbright/DAAD scholarship to Germany for 1968-69 in Bonn. He utilized this time not only to study European Intellectual History and advance his German language skills but also to travel extensively in Europe and make lasting friendships.  In 1969, Jack came to the University of Minnesota for graduate studies in European History, worked as a residence assistant in Middlebrook Hall and as a History Department teaching assistant while earning his MA in European History. Soon after his arrival in MN, Jack joined the US Army Reserves, Civil Affairs unit, retiring as a Major in 1986.  During his service in 1975 he was called to active duty at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to administer the relocation of Vietnam refugees. 

In 1976, Jack Jackson changed his professional career focus, enrolling in the UMN School of Public Affairs, now the Humphrey Institute, where he earned his MA in public administration.  Jack interned at the MN Housing Finance Agency and was subsequently hired there as a financial analyst.  He retired in 2008 with 30 years of service to the Agency where his work advanced the building of hundreds of affordable housing projects across Minnesota.  Jack Jackson was committed to providing safe, attractive affordable housing for all people.  He was proud to have his career contribute to the MN Housing Finance Agency and to work with professional colleagues he admired and valued.                                                                                                                   

Jack Jackson was active in DFL politics and a committed progressive.  He attended DFL caucuses, was a delegate to conventions, worked to elect many candidates, drop literature, door knock and served as the campaign treasurer for State Representative Lee Greenfield.  He was an aggressive racketball player and soccer enthusiast.  Jack also was a devoted advocate of the arts; particularly enjoying jazz at the Dakota and attending poetry readings and the local theater.  Jack was a renaissance person who enjoyed nothing more than a long conversation that ranged from current events to 18th century European history to world geography and contemporary literature and the arts.  To his last day, our friend Jack the intellectual raconteur was with us.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives and our south Minneapolis community for 50 plus years.

Jack was preceded in death by his life partner of 40 years, Susan “Sue” Grieger (passed in 10/2021), his mother Vivian Villers, his maternal grandmother and great aunt, his father James Jackson, the South Carolina grandparents and family and friend Dennis Anderson.  He is survived by his friends of 50 years, Rudi and Diann Anders, Jeffrey Loesch and Kathleen O’Brien and Marcia Greenfield, sister-in-law Darline Wieland of Ohio and her family and many friends and colleagues. To honor Jack’s memory, donations are suggested to Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative (2610 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55114,  https://www.beaconinterfaith.org ) or Common Bond Communities (1080 Montreal Ave., St. Paul, MN  55116    https://comonbond.org)

Memorial service at 11 AM Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the Lakewood Garden Mausoleum Room #1 at 3600 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis 55408.