Gilbert A Goodwin

Ann Arbor, MI

Passed away Friday, April 21, 2017. He was born November 2, 1927 in Ithaca, Michigan, son of Theo and Marion (Bartley) Goodwin. A graduate of Ithaca High School, Class of 1945, Gilbert served in the United States Navy as a medical corpsman from 1945 to 1947. After graduating from Central Michigan in 1950, he taught in the Flint school district before taking a summer job with the Saginaw News where he found his true calling in journalism. Gilbert joined the University of Michigan News and Information Services where he was employed from 1959 to 1989, earning a graduate degree with honors in 1969. As a news writer, executive speech writer, editor and public relations officer, Gilbert wrote the stories that profiled the academic community's outstanding contributors and their research in the fields of law, science, economics and engineering. Gilbert was for fifty years a player and advocate for the sport of handball, as well as a devoted fan of the Detroit Tigers and his beloved gridiron Wolverines. A man of eclectic interests, an avid reader and student of the great writers, he was also a published poet, student of the great chess masters, horticulturist, fisherman, cinema and classical music aficionado, as well as devoted husband, father and grandfather dedicated to the support of his grandchildren in their academic pursuits. Gilbert is survived by his sons, William B. (ex-wife Mimi) Goodwin of New York City, Mark G. Goodwin of Saline and David T. (Dorothea) Goodwin of Ann Arbor, four grandchildren, Alexander, Arianna, Cait (Joshua) Larson and Ryan. A descendant of the first pioneers of Gratiot County, Michigan, Gilbert will be laid to rest in the Ithaca Cemetery next to his beloved wife of 46 years, Dorothy (Kinney) Goodwin, following a graveside ceremony on April 29, 2017. Arrangements under the direction of Hosmer-Muehlig Funeral Chapel, Dexter, MI.