Walter Walls Goodwin ’45

Walt Goodwin died Feb. 3, 2010.  

Walt entered Princeton from Swarthmore (Pa.) High School, following in the footsteps of his father, Daniel 1914, and was one of the engineers who graduated in early 1944. At Princeton he joined Court Club and the Yacht Club.  

During the war he served with Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse, and married Deborah Cunningham, with whom he had two children, Alan and Carolyn. After 10 years he joined General Electric at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate New York, later switching to the gas-turbines division. He received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College.  

Walt, an avid sailor since his teens, designed and built a 20-foot sloop that he sailed for many years on New York State’s Lake George.  

Walt and Deborah divorced, and he later married Sonja Krause. After his retirement from GE, he helped man a suicide hotline and became a respected mediator with the Albany Mediation Center, which named their annual award after him.

In addition to Sonja, Walt is survived by his two children; two grandchildren; a great-grandchild; and his sister, Nancy. The class expresses its sympathy to the family.