Nelson Gates Goodman

Dr. Nelson Gates Goodman came to the natural end of an extraordinary life, at home, in the company of the people who loved him most, on February 7, 2024. He was 93 years old. Nelson spent his youth on Eutaw Place in Baltimore City. He graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1954, then served as a U.S. Army physician at the end of the Korean War. He married his wife, Sue Leavitt, on New Year's Eve in 1958. They had three children. Nelson was often ahead of his time. He bought his first home in an integration project, called Neighbors Inc., in northwest D.C. at the height of the civil rights movement. He began his medical practice with one of the earliest Health Maintenance Organizations, in Takoma Park, Maryland, before joining a private medical practice in Bowie, Maryland where he remained for the next 40 years. He cared for his patients on a personal level, brought his work home, made house calls. Nelson was an avid runner before it became an avocation and before the advent of the running shoe. He was an advocate for the decriminalization of drugs and for the medical treatment of drug abusers decades before it was an acceptable subject of public debate. He was a vocal supporter of sensible gun control long before Columbine. He ate salads daily before the invention of the salad bar and forever after. Nelson had strong, smart opinions which often appeared in the editorial columns of local newspapers. He was raised in an orthodox Jewish household and, although he was not particularly religious, he was a wholehearted Zionist. He was a good listener. He was honest to a fault. He held high ideals, but had modest needs. He worked hard, but remained humble. He loved poetry and recited his favorites by heart. He enjoyed opera. He was devoted to his family. Nelson was a good citizen of the world, because he took seriously his obligations to his fellow human beings. His absence is as much a loss to those who loved him as it is to those who did not know him. He is preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Sue Leavitt Goodman. He is survived by his only sister, Marian Rabinowitz; his three children, Ellen Goodman Duffy, Diane Goodman and Mark Goodman; his son-in-law, Paul Duffy, his daughter-in-law, Tatjana Syre Goodman; and his seven grandchildren; Alex and Sarah Duffy; Jemma, Willa and Esme Lehner; Josh and Jessica Goodman. A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Monday, February 12, 2024, at Temple Beth Shalom, 1461 Temple Beth Shalom, 1461 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd., Arnold, MD. The service will be live streamed at https://.www.annapolistemple.org/.worship/live-streaming/. There will be an open house for family and friends immediately afterward at The Reserve at Heritage Harbour, 940 Astern Way, Apt. 405.