Penelope Georgiana "Penny" Goodwin

Penelope "Penny" Georgiana Goodwin passed away March 6, 2026, in Salt Lake City.
Born December 1, 1950, in Montreal, Quebec, to British parents Percy Edgar "Ted" and Margaret "Peggy" Perkins Goodwin, Penny spent her life creating art, beauty, fashion, humor, relationships, and careers-both her own and others'. Though she was married twice and had additional meaningful long term relationships, the true loves of her life were art, fashion, and having "big fun" with her many, many friends.
Penny studied art, film, and dance at colleges in the Seattle area, and art history at the University of Rome; she also participated in photography courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. The photography career of her first husband, Dale Windham, took her to New York City, Paris, Milan, and Rome, where she became a valuable part of each city's fashion scene as a stylist, makeup artist, and negative retoucher. In the 1970s, she worked directly for Mary Kay Ash, training consultants across the United States on the Mary Kay line of cosmetics. In the early 1980s, she and her second husband, Jim Denver, moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a style and makeup consultant and eventually owned her own talent and modeling agency, before settling in Salt Lake City in 1989.
In 1990, she joined KUTV 2 in marketing, then in 1993 moved to KSL 5 and KSL Newsradio, working in promotions and creative services, including on KSL-TV's affiliate switch from CBS to NBC. From 1996 to 2003, she served as creative services director at ABC 4 (KTVX), leading a team of designers, producers, videographers, and editors. Throughout her television career, she earned multiple honors, including three Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards, five Telly Awards, a PROMAX Gold Medallion, and 15 UBEE Awards (10 gold, 5 silver) from the Utah Broadcasters Association. In 2003, she formed the Penny G Group, her own media and image consulting agency, where she worked with numerous media entities and national clients. For over 25 years, she was a creative director, producer, model, stylist, set dresser, casting agent, and makeup artist-and often several of these at once. Her eclectic experience gave her work an edgy spontaneity that was rare in its authenticity and whimsy, and entirely her own. She was, in every sense, an unparalleled creative.
Yet among all that skill and creativity, Penny's most enduring gift was with people. She had an uncanny ability to identify and nurture emerging talent, and was especially gifted at connecting people to one another at exactly the right moment-in their careers and in their lives. Dozens of creatives across Salt Lake City have Penny to thank for pivotal chapters of their careers through her mentorship, her generosity with opportunities, and her instinct for knowing who needed to meet whom. Her business cards carried a line that opened doors and inspired countless collaborations: Penny Goodwin
suggested...." Mentioning her name was all it took.
After retiring from full-time media and production work in 2015, Penny joined the part- time crew at Trader Joe's, a physically demanding role that kept her fit and where she routinely impressed coworkers half her age. Following a Parkinson's disease diagnosis in September 2024, she retired from Trader Joe's in January 2025 and spent her final year bringing her singular spark to the residents and staff of Capitol Hill Senior Living-charming them with her distinctive style, her stories, and her irrepressible wit.
Penny was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her sisters, Pamela and Pandora; her nieces, Brooks and Gina; her nephews, Phillip and Aaron; and their respective families.
Penny's friends and family wish to thank the staff at Capitol Hill Senior Living and Utah Home Health and Hospice-and especially her dear friend Carol McCracken-for their excellent care of Penny and their genuine appreciation for the remarkable person she was.
Penny's friends will host a celebration of her life-a proper party of "big fun"-in late spring. Until then, please share memories of Penny at PennyGoodwin.com, where details about the celebration will be available once finalized.