Louis Goetz

1946 - 2021

LOUIS GOETZ
March 3, 1946 - January 19, 2021
DURHAM, North Carolina - "The best gift you can give your children, is to love their mother" – Louis Goetz
Lou Goetz, long-time resident of Durham, real estate developer and former basketball coach at Duke, died at his home, Tuesday, after a short illness with his family by his side. He was 74.
His beloved wife Tracey, daughter Elly and son Mickey, son in law Elias, daughter- in-law Lisa and three grandchildren, plus his extended family, colleagues and friends deeply mourn the death of this wonderful man, who was close to a legion of people too numerous to list here.
Included are his former teammates and mentors at Rutgers, where he played and coached college basketball, also at the University of Utah and Duke as chief assistant to the late Bill Foster, and the University of Richmond where he was head coach from 1978-1981.
At Duke, Lou helped Foster recruit Jim Spanarkel, Mike Gminski, Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard, who led the Blue Devils to the 1978 ACC Championship and NCAA tournament Final Four in St. Louis.
After leaving coaching, his business and social network grew while developing residential and commercial real estate properties in and around Durham County. He concluded his career this month with his proudest development project, the nationally recognized Village Hearth Cohousing Community, the first 55+ community created by and for LBGTQs, friends and allies.
He was a passionate biker, organizing morning rides, weekend rides in the mountains and along the coast for friends and was joined by many on various legs of his 2000-mile bike trip from Key West to Bar Harbor, Maine, in 2013.
Lou loved to travel and organize adventures throughout the U.S. and abroad for his friends, family and the larger community. Among his most memorable trips were Alaska, Costa Rica, Honduras, Italy, France and Africa. He loved to spend time with family and friends on dude ranches in Wyoming and ski slopes in Park City and Vail, areas of the Far West that he loved since his younger years in Utah.
The Goetz family beach home at Bald Head Island headquartered annual holiday and birthday celebrations and weekend trips year-round. Lou and Tracey's annual "Big Chill" event at Bald Head always brought together his closest friends for a weekend of fun, competition, and much laughter, a tradition that Lou carried on for 30 years. Lou cherished regular rounds of golf with buddies, monthly game nights, lively parties and great conversations. He loved to dance, all kinds.
Lou was a natural community organizer and always built a tight community around himself and his family, with his grounded charisma, warm smile and larger-than-life demeanor. From births to birthdays, goings-away to graduations, Lou and Tracey held gatherings in their backyards in Falconbridge and Croasdaile to celebrate and support the endeavors and accomplishments of family, friends and colleagues. Lou wrote hundreds of heartfelt notes and emails over the years.
First and foremost, he was a devoted family man, accompanying Tracey to real estate events and never missing school concerts and plays and Mickey's basketball games, always a pen and stat sheet in hand. He organized, supported and rallied behind non-profits his daughter Elly pursued from Un Mundo in Honduras to Benevolence Farm and Transplanting Traditions in North Carolina.
He was deeply committed to contributing to the growth of our National and State Parks and local recreation and sports outlets such as the YMCA. Lou and Tracey were regulars at Cameron Indoor Stadium in their baseline seats on the brass rail behind the band and enjoyed Broadway shows as members of DPAC.
He encouraged his wife to buy a successful real estate company in her 20s and his children to follow their dreams wherever they took them. Elly lived in Central America for a decade, where she met her husband, and Mickey met his wife traveling in India and they currently live in the Alps of Austria.
Lou was raised in a modest Jewish home in Passaic, New Jersey, where he became a high school basketball star and major college recruit and went on to represent his country and faith at the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, making more lifelong friends. The Goetz family celebrates Hannukah and Christmas every year.
Besides his wife and two children, he is also survived by his son-in-law Elias Santos Dubon of Honduras and Durham and daughter-in-law Lisa Wiess of Austria and three grandchildren, Liv, Micaela and Jona; his nephew Brett Goetz and niece Lisa Goetz; father-in-law Dick Groat and sisters-in-law Carol Ann Groat and Allison Groat DeStefano of Pittsburgh, plus numerous other extended family.
Preceded in death by his parents, Milton and Jenny Goetz and brother Michael, Lou bequeathed his body to Duke Medicine to aid with research and learning. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to National Park Foundation, the East coast Greenway or the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.