Dec. 19, 1948 – Oct. 3, 2020
Marsha Harrison Goodwin was born Dec. 19, 1948, in Cedar City, Utah to Albert and Iva Harrison. She passed away peacefully on Oct. 3, 2020, surrounded by family.
Marsha grew up in New Castle, Utah but also lived in other places she considered the same kind of heaven, those being Pinto and New Harmony, Utah. She and her dad had an amazing and special relationship and she loved helping him on the family ranch. Her love and passion for horses would eventually lead her to develop into quite the cowgirl. She became involved in rodeo life and won Iron Rangers Rodeo Queen in 1965. She loved being outside every chance she had.
She graduated from Cedar High School in 1967 and then later, from cosmetology school in Cedar City as well. She then moved to Salt Lake City where she lived with her cousin, Carol Addy at the “pad”. Marsha would later meet Robert in the rodeo scene, and they were married on April 24th, 1970, and have three children: Lynnette, Benton, and Boyd. They were later sealed as a family in the St. George Temple on April 24, 1993.
Throughout her life, Marsha always worked hard and cared deeply about her friends and family, both of which were her highest priorities. She emphasized these traits to her children. If someone in the community was in need, Marsha would always be the first in line to help them and their families, no questions asked.
Marsha and Robert made their home in New Harmony, Utah where they lived for over 40 years. Marsha loved her time in New Harmony and the strong family heritage that occupied the valley for many decades. She loved the small-town community and the values and opportunities it afforded her family, despite the winter commutes to Cedar City.
Marsha worked for the Iron County School District in a variety of jobs, lunch lady, teacher’s aide, secretary, and librarian. Her co-workers were drawn to her and she made some life-long friends with some of them. She loved working with children of all ages and always knew how to uniquely help them, from giving rides home, letting them stay in the library after hours, even if it meant a longer day for her, helping them learn to read, and standing up for the underdog kid that may have been getting picked on.
Marsha loved having the opportunity to be at the schools that her kids and grandkids attended and would take advantage of being able to take them to lunch and chauffeur them home with a Dairy Queen stop along the way. Robert and Marsha worked hard their entire lives always putting their kids first and making sure they had every opportunity they desired and never went without.
Marsha was always the greatest host to anyone who walked through her front door or sat on her famous front porch. Her house was the “gathering place”, and everyone felt welcome! Anyone that came to her house always left well-fed, leftovers in hand, and with sore ribs from laughing for many hours. Marsha always put family first and was proud of her bloodlines and the history that they represented. She had an unrivaled memory of her genealogy and could tell you stories about any ancestor. This passion led her to spearhead the making of a statue honoring her great-great-Grandfather, Richard Harrison, that can be found on Main Street in Cedar City in front of Wells Fargo.
Marsha’s happiest times were having her family all under one roof making memories for any occasion. She made a point to have a special connection to each of her grandkids and would always have a unique prize for them when they came to her house in the “surprise closet”.
Marsha was “a goer” just like her mom, and had a passion to travel and would never turn down a trip anywhere, but always looked forward to coming home to her own “little PEACE of heaven” in New Harmony. She was a dedicated Utah Jazz fan no matter the season, she also enjoyed going to the NFR and the Days of 47 rodeos, where each barrel racer knew she was in the stands cheering them on.
A natural talent of hers was being able to sew just about anything and do it quickly, she made sure her family looked sharp even if it was a last-minute adjustment. She also loved crafting and making watchbands with her granddaughters. She was an amazing cook and on occasion, her sons may have got in a little hot water, and asked their wives to call her for instructions on a favorite dish. Being well-groomed was of obvious importance, with her perfect hair and make-up being a must before being seen in public. She always looked like a million bucks! But she would never turn down a pair of comfortable summer sandals or a dune-buggy ride.
Her love for her fellowman and amazing heartfelt, Christlike love was ever evident in her caring and helping others. She gave many free haircuts to those older people to whom she had a tender spot for in town. They may have thought they were paying for the haircut with a check, but she fooled them by not cashing a one! She had a drawer full of them from Marion Prince and Betty Pace as a couple of examples. She was an angel and honorable servant to many on this earth and did not want praise or notoriety for being such. We would all do well to take a page from her book!
Her Uncle Boyd was one of her heroes and the two shared a special bond. Other special bonds similar to this were found with 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th cousins. She cultivated relationships that some would let go with a generation. Some of her cousins and even close friends would consider her a sister, rather than a cousin or friend.
Marsha was a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and had a strong testimony of the gospel. She accepted many callings in the church and fulfilled each one of them to the highest degree. Robert and Marsha especially cherished their time serving at the Iron Mission Branch in Cedar City, where they both made life-long friends with their Native American brothers and sisters. She followed the teachings of the church to the letter and knew the power of each modern-day prophet. She even seized the opportunity to hug President Hinckley on one occasion, he gladly obliged, but it probably took his security personnel by surprise.
Marsha had battled with cancer over the past couple of years, but nobody would have ever known since she carried on like nothing was going on and could slow her down. Even during her
fight with cancer, she put others first and offered her usual helping hand without them being the wiser. Throughout her life she had her own special guardian angels, to name a few, Carol Addy, Cecil Spencer, Rebecca Vanalphen, Jerry Rusk, Nanette Batty and Kerrie Bringhurst.
She was not afraid to die, but expressed sadness that her younger grandchildren wouldn’t know her as well as she knew them. Because of her testimony, she told us all she was not afraid to die, but said she was sad that her younger grandchildren wouldn’t get to know her like she wanted, or watch them grow up.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Iva (Pace) Harrison; her brother, Bill Harrison; her in-laws, Bob and Irene (Gentry) Goodwin; and brother-in-law, Gordon Goodwin. She is survived by her husband, of 50 years, Robert Lane Goodwin; sister, Lydia Austin; daughter, Lynnette (Richard) Roundy; son, Benton (Laci) Goodwin, son, Boyd (Paige) Goodwin; grandchildren: Danny (Amanda) Roundy, Jace (Alyse) Roundy, Tyson Roundy, Selene Roundy, Kinzi Roundy, Megan Roundy, Chevelle Mitchell Goodwin, Steele Goodwin, Cashlee Goodwin, and great-grandchildren: Rilynn Roundy, Derek Ball; in-laws, Dianne (Garth) Bryant, Doris Goodwin, Ed (Shelly) Goodwin, Jill (Terry) Smith, Betsy (Scott) Woolsey, and Michelle (Jon) Gates.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Aid Fund and serve your fellowman. In Marsha’s own words, she wanted to express her deepest condolences to all of the Downwinders and would hope that any government would never do anything like that to its own people ever again!
Funeral services will be held Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. at the New Harmony Chapel, 12 South Main Street, New Harmony, Utah. A visitation will be held prior to services from 2:00-2:45 p.m. at the church. Interment will be in the New Harmony Cemetery.
The family would like to express gratitude for the medical team: Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Garrett, and all nurses, care-takers and hospice help, that helped to make Marsha’s passing as comforable as possible.
Arrangements entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, 435-673-4221. Visit www.metcalfmortuary.com for condolences, complete obituary and funeral listings.