1927
Wallace
2021
Wallace Blair "Wally" Goodwin II
January 10, 1927 — July 19, 2021
Wally Goodwin (1927-2021)…. He loved coaching, ranching, his wife of 67 years Nancy, their sons Putter and Reamy, brother Ralph and his wife Hilary, grand children Annie (deceased July 14, 2021), Georgy, Jack and Ry, their dog Huck and everyone in between, around and within!!
For nearly 50 years he coached…prep school football, basketball, baseball, track and golf while being each school’s Athletic Director (Fountain Valley School, Western Reserve Academy, Robert Louis Stevenson School). Then came college basketball (Stetson U) and college golf (Northwestern U, Stanford U, U of Northern Colorado). He left each of these programs in a far better place than we he arrived. The number of “boys to men” he influenced is staggering!
With teaching came the summer months, where he and Nancy would head to the families Rafter Y Ranch (Banner, WY) to operate a working guest ranch. The Goodwin’s, and all that “duded” there, loved that special place! Wally took to irrigating the 1,000 acres with fervor, rose at 5:00am with the ever present effort to “make water flow uphill”.
Wally was born and raised in Cincinnati, he prepped at Pomfret School (CT) and was a U of Virginia graduate (played Football, Baseball and Swam in college). He spent a year as National Secretary for his beloved Chi Psi fraternity, he served in the Navy during WWII, played golf on the PGA tour as an amateur, spent a couple years on the ranch and then he fell into coaching and off they went…
When he called his career complete, two college golf programs were fully endowed, NCAA National Championships with Stanford (’94) and Independent Schools with Northern Colorado (’05), two time NCAA Coach of the Year, Stanford Universities spring college golf tourney is named “The Goodwin” and induction into eleven Halls of Fame.
The Goodwin’s sold the Rafter Y Ranch in 2011, moved to Hailey, Idaho and are “living the dream”.
In honor of Wally’s life, please contribute a story, quip, pic or joke to www.woodriverchapel.com that will take on the eventual form of a book for his family and friends…
A service and celebration of life will be announced at a later date…
“May the good Lord take a likin’ to ya”.
For nearly 50 years he coached…prep school football, basketball, baseball, track and golf while being each school’s Athletic Director (Fountain Valley School, Western Reserve Academy, Robert Louis Stevenson School). Then came college basketball (Stetson U) and college golf (Northwestern U, Stanford U, U of Northern Colorado). He left each of these programs in a far better place than we he arrived. The number of “boys to men” he influenced is staggering!
With teaching came the summer months, where he and Nancy would head to the families Rafter Y Ranch (Banner, WY) to operate a working guest ranch. The Goodwin’s, and all that “duded” there, loved that special place! Wally took to irrigating the 1,000 acres with fervor, rose at 5:00am with the ever present effort to “make water flow uphill”.
Wally was born and raised in Cincinnati, he prepped at Pomfret School (CT) and was a U of Virginia graduate (played Football, Baseball and Swam in college). He spent a year as National Secretary for his beloved Chi Psi fraternity, he served in the Navy during WWII, played golf on the PGA tour as an amateur, spent a couple years on the ranch and then he fell into coaching and off they went…
When he called his career complete, two college golf programs were fully endowed, NCAA National Championships with Stanford (’94) and Independent Schools with Northern Colorado (’05), two time NCAA Coach of the Year, Stanford Universities spring college golf tourney is named “The Goodwin” and induction into eleven Halls of Fame.
The Goodwin’s sold the Rafter Y Ranch in 2011, moved to Hailey, Idaho and are “living the dream”.
In honor of Wally’s life, please contribute a story, quip, pic or joke to www.woodriverchapel.com that will take on the eventual form of a book for his family and friends…
A service and celebration of life will be announced at a later date…
“May the good Lord take a likin’ to ya”.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Wallace Blair "Wally" Goodwin II, please visit our flower store.
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Cremation under the care of Wood River Chapel
A service and celebration will be announced at a later date.
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