John C. Goodwin

GOODWIN
John C., 75, died Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at Emerson Healthcare, Emerson, NJ, where he spent the last year of his life.
The son of Rev. R. Dean and Almira Goodwin, John grew up in Tenafly, NJ; he attended Tenafly High School and graduated from Ottawa University, Kansas, in 1963. He served two stateside years in the US Army at a Nike air defense missile base in Tappan, NY. He married Joan Knowlton in 1965.
From 1966 to 1974, John worked as a freelance photographer, specializing in the anti-war movement. His subjects included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Daniel Berrigan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Thich Nhat Hanh, and countless others.
In 1974, John accepted a photojournalism position with The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. For twenty years he traveled to more than seventy countries; his work has been featured in hundreds of magazines, documentaries, and online media. He excelled at illuminating the face of shared human experience, connecting people around the world.
John was diagnosed with MS in 1995. From 1999, he served on the executive committee of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty - the death penalty in New Jersey was successfully abolished in 2007. He remained active in the Demarest Nature Center, performed in the choir at Demarest United Methodist Church, and was a familiar figure driving his electric scooter to the Demarest Swim Club every day in the summer. He was a popular model at The Art School at Old Church and others, and portraits of him can still be found in art fairs across Bergen County.
John is survived by his sons Benjamin and David, daughter-in-law Elisabeth, former wife Joan Burch, and step-mother Loree Goodwin. Gifts in his memory may be made to Demarest United Methodist Church or the MS Society.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 Saturday, March 25, at Demarest United Methodist Church, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. No viewing is planned.