Deceased January 11, 2009
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In Memory
John (Jack) Goodridge died on Jan. 11, 2009, after a series of health problems. Jack entered Amherst in 1939 but left in 1942 to join the U.S. Coast Guard for three years, serving most of it on the frigate U.S.S. Muskegan in the high seas war in the north Atlantic. Later Jack went to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for training as an officer. The War ended, and he returned to Amherst in 1945, graduating in 1947. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
After graduation, Jack was hired by the First National City Bank of New York, later Citibank. His first assignment was in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and later Recife and Bahia, both in Brazil. He was then sent to Egypt as assistant branch manager of the Cairo Citibank. While there, the war broke out over the Suez Canal. Jack’s family was evacuated to the U.S. Jack later returned to Cairo as manager. He was appointed vice president of the Middle East for Citibank, based in Beirut, Lebanon. After another stint back in the U.S., Jack was named vice president of Africa for Citibank with offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. His last overseas appointment was in Athens, Greece, reestablishing branches of the bank in Egypt as well as overseeing Citibank in other Middle East countries. He retired in 1982 after 36 years with Citibank, 28 of them overseas.
Jack met his wife, Lois, on a Pan Am flight when he was returning to Brazil in 1950 for his second three-year assignment there. Lois was a stewardess on Pan American Airways. They were married in 1951 and had four daughters, Betty born in Bahia, Brazil; Cathy born in Long Island, N.Y.; Joni and Martha, both born in Cairo.
Upon retiring, the family moved to Tucson, Ariz. Jack was an active member of the Foothills Forum, on the steering committee for six years. He was also on the Tucson Foreign Affairs Committee and an active member of the Rincon Congregational Church where he headed several committees. Memorial services for Jack were held at the Rincon Congregational Church, where amongst other remembrances, Jack’s brother, Ted, led a quartet singing “Lord Jeffery Amherst.”
Jack will be remembered by many as an avid golfer. While in high school in Bristol, Conn., he paired with the golf pro at the Chipannee Country Club and won the Connecticut Pro-Am Tournament. Later, in Brazil, he won the qualifying round in the Brazilian Amateur Open but lost out in later rounds. In Johannesburg, playing with a partner in a major tournament, he had a club record low score, and they won the tournament by one stroke. The prime minister of South Africa presented him with a pair of elaborate cuff links which Jack treasured. A lot of golfers will miss his presence on the links.
Jack will be missed, not only by his wife Lois and their daughters and eight grandchildren and one great-grandson, but by his many friends and associates in Tucson and around the world. The Class of 1943 sends heartfelt sympathy to Lois and the rest of the Goodridge family. We’ll miss Jack.
Bill Erskine ’43