Dr. Benjamin Goodman Sr.

Dr. Benjamin
Warren Goodman, Sr.
HICKORY -- Dr. Goodman, son of A.H. Goodman and Hazy Ann Randolph Goodman, died Tuesday, August 12, 2003. Born September 23, 1920, in Bristol, Tennessee, Dr. Goodman was a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne College and the University of Tennessee School of Medicine. He was an aviator and flight surgeon during World War II and the Korean Conflict. He came to Hickory as a flight instructor and married Peggy Stewart Whitener in 1945. Dr. Goodman practiced family and sports medicine in Hickory for forty-five years (1954-1999), founding the Medical Arts Clinic in 1960.
Dr. Goodman was an avid fan of General Electric and Lenoir Rhyne football. He served as GE plant physician from its inception in 1955 until the Hickory plant closed. Dr. Goodman was the team physician for Lenoir Rhyne's football program from 1954 until 1989, traveling with his wife to all the games. He was inducted into the LR Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. He was awarded the college's Distinguished Service Award in 1963, was named outstanding alumnus twice, and received the Trustee Award in 1984. Life member and Director of the Piedmont Education Foundation, Dr. Goodman was chairman of the Sports Hall of Fame Committee for thirty years (1970-2000).
Dr. Goodman was active in the American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, North Carolina Society of Industrial Medicine, and the North Carolina Medical Society. he practiced medicine at both Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center. For his life of medical service, Dr. Goodman was awarded the North Carolina Family Practitioner of the Year Award in 1990 by the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.
In addition to his accomplishments within his profession, Dr. Goodman, was also proud of his antique car collection, his hole-in-one at both Catawba Springs and Palm Springs Desert.
Dr. Goodman's survivors are his wife of 58 years, Peggy; and four children, Dr. Benjamin W. Goodman, Jr., William Hardin Goodman, Kathryn Goodman Lehman and Ann R. Goodman; a s well as six grandchildren. The family will receive at the Goodman's residence, Wednesday evening. Graveside service in Oakwood Cemetery will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Catawba County Medical Society will serve as Honorary Pallbearers.
Memorials may be made to the Athletic Scholarship Fund Lenoir Rhyne College, P.O. Box 7546, Hickory, NC 28603.
Bass-Smith Funeral Home is serving the family of Dr. Benjamin Warren Goodman, Sr.