Rolf Goetze

Rolf Goetze pursued his life with curiosity and optimism. Born in Boston in 1937 to Klaus and Erika Goetze, Rolf and his younger brother, Christopher, spent summers in a close-knit summer community in Randolph, NH. Rolf's fondness for mountains and spectacular vistas came from the summers he spent as a caretaker at the Randolph Mountain Club's Grey Knob and Crag Camp huts. His schooling cultivated and stoked his natural curiosity, starting with the influential Shady Hill School, a year of German schooling in Schoendorf, Phillips Exeter, Harvard and Harvard's Graduate School of Design (Masters in Architecture), as well as a PhD in Housing and Social Policy from MIT. Always eager to explore less traveled paths, Rolf and his wife, Julie Anne (Decker) Goetze joined the Peace Corps and lived in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1962-64. The campus buildings he designed for colleges in Pokhara and Kathmandu still stand today. The return from Nepal was another adventure of 9 months, which included buying a Volkswagen Beetle and Julie and Rolf driving it across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey and on to Austria and Germany, including some roads that saw less than a dozen cars per year.

Settling in Belmont, MA upon their return, Rolf and Julie raised 4 children with frequent family visits to the White Mountains in NH and the Green Mountains in VT. Summer vacations were opportunities for multiple family car camping trips in a Volkswagen Bus, visiting National and State Parks throughout the United States. During this time, Rolf worked at the Boston Redevelopment Authority as the Director of Housing Revitalization Programs, published many articles and wrote 3 books: Building Neighborhood Confidence (1976), Understanding Neighborhood Change (1979), and Rescuing the American Dream (1983). Rolf's curiosity introduced him to computers, databases and GIS mapping and he coordinated Boston's initial city-wide, parcel-based Geographic Information System. In 1991, Rolf founded GeoData Analytics, which was a partnership of land use development consultants, which did analytical data mapping work for many Massachusetts towns. Rolf and Julie enjoyed hiking and exploring the Maine coast and inland during long weekends in Southwest Harbor, ME, based in a 19th century house they owned for 15 years.

In 2000, Rolf and Julie moved to Cambridge, MA to the house in which Rolf had grown up. He applied his architectural ideas and experience to a significant renovation and modernization of the house. Rolf and Julie continued to make annual spring trips to beloved State and National Parks. "Theodore Roosevelt National Park is not to be missed if you are in North Dakota!" Rolf would say. It is off the well-traveled path.

Rolf passed away on June 27 and is survived by his wife, Julie Anne, son Erik Goetze and his partner, Stephen Gumbs, son Ben Goetze and his partner Lara Sprinski and granddaughter Katelynn Goetze; daughter Devi Mapakoi and her husband William Mapakoi and grandchildren Will Jr., Gavin and Keanna, as well as son Karl and his wife Amy Lord and grandchildren Ella, Viva and Cyrus. Rolf is also survived by sister-in-law Lydia Goetze, and nieces Lisel Record and Erica Goetze and their families. Rolf loved family gatherings and seeing what the "next generation" was up to. He always had many questions for them and we will miss those.