Larry Clennon Goode

Larry Clennon Goode was born in Cairo, Illinois on November 25, 1937 — Thanksgiving Day. In his own words he “lived there six months, couldn’t stand it, moved south” specifically to his grandfather’s farm in Kaiser, Arkansas. Later, his family moved to Memphis where he attended Memphis Technical High School. Some of his favorite memories from high school centered around playing percussion with the band. The summer following his graduation, he worked as a deck-hand on a riverboat between Memphis and Lake Charles, Louisiana and saved enough money to enter Memphis State College, focusing on chemistry. After leaving MSC, he worked at a number of different professions before finding a job as a structural steel detailer at Steelcon, Inc. He felt like he had found a home and stayed there 63 years. He liked to brag that he had built bridges in every state in the union except South Dakota.

Larry enjoyed many hobbies. He liked to build and fly model airplanes and then graduated to getting a pilot’s license and flying his own Cessna 150 until his heart condition grounded him. For several years he was involved with the local theatre community working as a stage manager as well as lighting and sound designer. He always enjoyed being in the kitchen; that grew into studying different styles of cuisine; he even traveled to different parts of the world to take cooking classes. He was particularly well-known for his Thai curries. He loved entertaining friends and hosted an annual paella party where the paella was cooked in a hole he had dug in his backyard. An invitation to that became a coveted item in culinary circles.

His interest in food led him to promoting wine, a hobby he enjoyed for the rest of his life. He was a charter member of Noble Rot Wine Club as well as Guild president of the Memphis chapter of Tasters’ Guild. He, along with John Grisanti and Rich Martin, led some wine-focused tours to California, and he personally visited wineries around the world. A favorite was Quinta do Noval in Portugal where he and his wife were overnight guests of the winery.

Traveling was another of Larry’s passions that was shared with his wife, Mimmye. Together they traveled through a large part of the world. Larry never met a stranger and he made friends wherever they went some of which kept in touch for years. In 2014 he added Hawaii as his 50th state to visit and he saw every continent except for Antarctica.

During his later years, he went back to one of his first loves, playing bridge. He played whenever and wherever he got the chance and was a member of several bridge clubs. His favorite was a small group of close friends who played regularly every Saturday. They were a big part of his final years.

Larry was pre-deceased by his parents, Malcolm and Nerine Goode of Arkansas and grandson, Ian A. Goode of Albany, NY. He is survived by his wife, Mimmye Goode, of Memphis; a sister, Joyce Johnson (Frank) of Cordova; a brother, Malcolm Goode (Sylvia) of Huntsville, AL; four daughters Karen G. May of Atlanta, GA; Marion G. Carrithers (Scott) of Louisville, Ky; Elizabeth Goode of Baltimore, Md; and Georgianna D.G. Meagher (Kevin) of Highland MD; and three children by marriage, Robert W. Bradley of Munford, Tn; Myna Bradley (Barry Hostetler) of Memphis; Randall H. Wright (Julie) of Dallas, TX; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A visitation will be held at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar at 1:00 on Saturday, June 15 followed by a Celebration of Life at 2:00. Donations can be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.