Rebecca Ann Goodlett

FITCHBURG - Rebecca Ann (Jackson) Goodlett, 49, of Fitchburg, passed away on Tuesday morning, April 22, 2025, in her home. In the weeks and months that preceded her passing, her three sons watched over and cared for her, and a ceaseless caravan of colleagues, friends, and family visited, brought food, and offered joy and well wishes.
Rebecca was born in Portland, Oregon, on March 24, 1976, the daughter of the late Robert and Frances (Bestwick) Jackson. She grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, before moving back to Oregon, where she earned a bachelor's degree in the sciences from the University of Oregon.
After meeting her fiancé, Sean C. Goodlett, at UO, she moved to Fitchburg in 2001, and that October they were married at the Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine. She went on to receive her master's degree in special education and a certificate of advanced graduate studies (CAGS) in teaching English as a second language from Fitchburg State University, as well as a passel of teaching certificates from the state of Massachusetts.
Rebecca was an elementary school teacher for fifteen years, first at the Holy Rosary School in Gardner and then in the Fitchburg Public Schools, where she taught at South Street Elementary and later McKay Elementary. She retired last year.
Friends and colleagues will tell you that she was a tenacious, endlessly talented, and loving soul who put her utmost (and then some) into everything she did. If you sat in her classroom, you saw her passion for learning and teaching. If you ate at her table, you experienced her boundless creativity and love of food. If you walked with her these last seven years, you saw her always moving, never allowing sickness to define or slow her down.
When she wasn't teaching, Rebecca enjoyed cooking and baking. Her cookbook collection was rivaled only by her encyclopedic memory of ingredients, substitutions, and recipes; there was never a cuisine she didn't attempt or succeed at. Her cupcakes were legendary, and during many holidays the house overflowed with candies.
In the years before and even during her lengthy illness, Rebecca loved to be active. She was a runner, often logging 30 or more miles a week, and she and her husband walked for miles every evening; on the weekends they went for hikes in the local woods and on bike trails.
She leaves her spouse, Sean C. Goodlett, of Fitchburg; three sons, Gregor C. Goodlett, Ethan C. Goodlett, and Liam C. Goodlett all of Fitchburg; two brothers, Stephen Jackson, and his wife, Rachel Lapkin, of Conway, MA, and Christopher Jackson and his wife, Natcha, of Carleton, OR.
Calling hours will be held at the Anderson Funeral Home, 316 Clarendon Street, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 1st. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, May 2nd, at 11:30 a.m. in the Holy Rosary Church, 135 Nichols Street, Gardner. Burial services will be attended by immediate and extended family only. Rebecca will come to rest at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her name to the American Cancer Society and/or Massachusetts General Hospital, where she received exceptional and loving care.