Carol N. (Nowill) Goodwin

Carol N. Goodwin, 86, passed away on January 29, 2021.

Carol was the daughter of Ben W. Nowill and Pauline Moody Nowill and she graduated from West Springfield High School in 1952 and earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Keene State College.

Carol married Tom Goodwin in 1953 and they were married for sixty-four years. Tom joined the US Army in 1954 and retired twenty years later with the rank of Major. Tom served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam. Carol was exceptional at moving her family and enjoyed living in many different places and the experience of meeting people from different cultures. Carol had two young children in Okinawa in 1964. Soldiers were being sent from Okinawa to Vietnam and families were being evacuated and sent stateside. Carol was put in charge of packing and shipping household goods and cars for all of the single men. She had a rack of car keys and room keys and went to work as the men left for Vietnam in combat gear. One family friend said he landed in Okinawa and was told to hand Carol his keys and then get on the plane for Vietnam. Carol called the Vietnam years the ice tea and kleenex years. Carol was independent and brave. 

After Tom retired from the Army, Carol taught General Science and Family and Consumer Science to High School and Middle School students for over twenty years. She loved teaching and helping young people.  She retired from Lynch Middle School in Holyoke. 

Carol loved playing the piano, roses, sewing, travel, art, reading, dogs, teaching and playing bridge.  Carol was a Girl Scout Troop Leader for twenty years, active in the DAV and enjoyed her time with friends at the Senior Center in Greenfield.  The last year of her life Carol loved going for drives with her friend and caregiver Patty Thayer.  She enjoyed the adventures.

Carol is predeceased by her daughter Deborah and her husband Tom. Carol is survived by her youngest daughter Melodie Goodwin of Greenfield and her siblings James Nowill, Edith Field, and Paul Nowill of Massachusetts. 

Due to health concerns regarding the Covid crisis, services will be private. Carol will be placed beside her husband Tom in Forestdale Cemetery in Holyoke.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be sent to the Shriners Hospital for Children, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104.

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