Peter Morgan Goodrich

Selfless Boss
Peter Morgan Goodrich was a burly, 6 foot 1, all- American shot-putter who also threw the hammer and discus during the late 1980's at Bates College. He was an avid Boston Red Sox fan.

Mr. Goodrich, who overcame dyslexia to achieve a double major in math and physics, was also drawn to cerebral pursuits like chess and studies of the behavior of ants and dragonflies. The child who delighted in feeding wolf spiders grew into a man who welcomed them into his Cambridge, Mass., home, according to Rachel Carr Goodrich, the college sweetheart he married in 1992.

"He was nice to everybody and everything," said Mrs. Goodrich, confessing she could have done without the eight-legged housemates.

Mr. Goodrich, 33, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, was also a protective boss. A manager of software product development at struggling Upspring Software, he was told to cut $200,000 from his budget last winter. He eliminated his own job rather than break up his programming team. His selflessness was rewarded: when MKS, another software firm, acquired Upspring, the company rehired him.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 1, 2001.


Peter Morgan Goodrich, 33, a resident of Sudbury, died Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, onboard United Flight 175.

He leaves his wife, Rachel (Carr) Goodrich. Rachel and Peter met while at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and were married in Guilford, Conn. Oct. 11, 1992. He was the son of Sarah (Donavan) and Donald Goodrich of Williamstown.

Born on Oct. 1, 1967, the day the Red Sox won the pennant, he was educated in the Willliamstown public school system and was a 1985 cum laude graduate of Berkshire School in Sheffield. Goodrich went on to graduate with high honors in mathematics from Bates College. While there, he was a six-time All-American in track and field.

Goodrich worked for several years at Software Emancipation Technology and at the time of his death, was the director of product development for MKS, its successor company.

Besides his wife and parents, he leaves his brother, D. Foster Hetherington, and sister-in-law, Janine Hetherington, of Brandon, Vt.; his sister and brother-in-law, Kimberly and John Trimarchi, of Adams; his nephew and niece, Ben and Sarah Trimarchi; his in-laws and brother-in-law, Jon, Linda and Jonathan Carr, of Guilford, Conn.; his grandfather, Peter F. Donavan, of Benington, Vt; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A memorial service will be on Friday, Sept. 28, at 11:30 a.m., at the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Fund may be made to Fleet Bank, c/o Brian O’Connor, 1075 Main Street – MADE 13502C, Waltham, MA 02451. The fund has been established to support issues of interest to Goodrich.