Arthur Godi

1936 - 2023

Arthur "Art" Godi, 87, passed away peacefully at the Hospice House of San Joaquin on April 15, 2023. He was born March 14, 1936 in Stockton, California to the late Evelyn and Louis Godi.
Art grew up in Stockton and went to Lincoln Elementary for early grammar school before moving to San Francisco briefly and attending Denman Junior High and Balboa High Schools. His family moved back to Stockton and Art finished at Stockton College in 1955. He left Stockton College as Student Body President of Student Activities and Demolay Master Councilor, moving on to Stanford University where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in economics in 1957.
He remained in Stockton and worked at Johns Manville for three years before opting to get into real estate in 1961. He would eventually open Art Godi Realtors on Robinhood Drive and pursue work at the state, national and global levels.
Art served on the National Association of Realtors' Board of Directors from 1978 and the Executive Committee from 1985 to 1997. He also served as a member of NAR's Internal Operations Committee, Finance Committee, Nominating Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and CIPS Advisory Group. He was President of the California Association of Realtors in 1981. Internationally, Art was appointed to serve as the Reciprocal Director to Italy for NAR in 1998 and 1999 and for Russia from 2000 thru 2003. He represented the United States at the United Nations World Shelter Conference in Istanbul in 1996. He was also a NAR president in 1996.
Art's civic involvements included service as chairman of the Real Estate Continuing Education Committee for the California Department of Real Estate and as a member of its advisory committee. He was a member of the North Stockton Rotary Club, served on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Healthy Housing, and supported the arts as a board member for the Stockton Civic Theater group.
He was also an experienced teacher. Early in his career, he began teaching courses at the University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College. Art started Delta's Real Estate Principles course, a prerequisite for the California Real Estate Exam, which he taught for 51 years. He has also taught in 22 cities in eight countries of the former Soviet Bloc in Eastern Europe. Other courses he taught included GRI, CRB, CRS, and CIPS. He co-authored the original CRS program and taught the first CRS course.
Art was named top consultant of the first 10 years in the former Soviet Bloc in Eastern Europe and in 1987 was honored as the Outstanding Real Estate Educator in the United States by the National Association of Realtors. In 2003, he was awarded the "Hall of Leaders Award," created by CRB to recognize outstanding leaders and innovators in the industry.
On top of that, Art co-authored a real estate sales instructional book, wrote his own real estate marketing book and had a movie made about real estate best practices.
He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a member of Stockton Golf & Country Club for many years. Aside from golf, Art enjoyed playing several recreational sports and passionately followed teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Giants. He was also passionate about supporting Delta, UOP and Stanford, attending countless events.
When not at a game or making new friends, Art loved to travel, especially to the Bay Area and coastal regions. He attended the theater and movies regularly and loved casual card games and trivia contests. However, his greatest joy was having time with his children or grandchildren and making them smile. He was warm and charismatic with all.
He was preceded in death by his son Michael and sister Nadine. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce, sons John (Kara), James (Marisa), Mark (Laura), daughter Ria (Shane); grandchildren Alyssa (Taylor), Ashley (Ryan), Stone (Brynn), Chase, Amy, Ethan, Jett, Dominic, Mia, Payton, and Presley; great-grandchildren Patrick and Cameron.
A special thanks to the Hospice House of San Joaquin staff, his caregivers and doctors for their amazing care.
Funeral: Saturday, April 22nd at 10:30 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7030 North El Dorado Street, Stockton, CA 95207. Graveside burial will follow at 1pm at Cherokee Memorial, E. Harney Lane & CA 99, Lodi, CA 95240.
Donations can be made to The ROS1ders Inc., a global cancer fund.