Obituary of Charles Brian Goodard

Charles "Chuck" Goodard passed away peacefully at approximately 7:15am on Wednesday, December 15th 2021 after a long battle with liver cancer and an invasive brain infection. His wife, Traci Goodard, was at his side, which was one of his greatest wishes. He was 64 years old. If you knew Chuck, you know he was a man of many stories and many sides, and a man of faith. His life came together like patchwork, so sometimes it's difficult to trace the stories accurately or linearly--even for his family. Nevertheless, we're going to do our best to tell you about who Chuck was. Chuck was an incredibly hard worker who took great pride in his career and his ability to provide a good life for his family. Born in 1957, his early life is peppered with eccentric job stories--hitchhiking and sharing a seat with a bobcat, going door-to-door as a salesman, and a brief stint in the military. In 1980 he got a job drafting airplane parts for Garett Turbine Engine Company in Phoenix, AZ and found his niche, completing a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University before moving on to Rohr Industries, Sundstrand Power Systems, Grumman, Gulfstream, AlliedSignal Engines, and more. In the mid 1990s, Chuck was appointed as a consultant Designated Engineering Representative (DER) for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)--a difficult-to-obtain technical classification that allowed him to work as an individual on behalf of the FAA in the fields of Mechanical Systems, the Powerplant Group, and Custom Engineering. He was the Organization Delegation Authorization Administrator for Atlantic Aero and a DER for HondaJet. He worked the Boeing 787 program as a delegated representative as well. He made close friends along the way, particularly Derrick Strickland, who he considered his lifelong best friend. He ended his career working Gulfstream's G500/G600 development program. He was highly respected by his colleagues and the FAA and was regarded as an expert in his field. Chuck loved his family. He didn't speak much about his childhood, other than sharing a few odd--sometimes unbelievable--stories from time to time. Raised as the middle child with four siblings, Chuck's single mom enrolled him in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters mentoring program when he was nine years old. There he was matched with his new big brother, Henry Dominguez. Along with his wife Gloria, Henry welcomed Chuck into his family, guiding him throughout his teenage and young adult years. While he was never formally adopted by the Domingeuzes, Chuck considered them his foster parents and remained close to them for the rest of his life. He met his wife, Traci, in 1992 at his own work farewell party. By the end of the weekend, he'd asked for his job back and was determined to stay. Chuck and Traci married less than a year later and spent the next 28 years living all over the country, moving each time he took a new contract job. Together they had three daughters, Jessica (28), Elizabeth (24), and Caroline (20), who joined Chuck's sons from a previous marriage, David (41) and Matthew (36). He loved taking vacations with his family--big beach house excursions on tiny islands in the Outer Banks and Disney World trips during the Super Bowl when the parks were almost empty. He bought a vacation cabin in the mountains and promptly instructed everyone to learn a bluegrass instrument of their choice. And while Chuck never quite understood how or why he ended up with three artistic daughters instead of engineers, he made sure they had the tools they needed to succeed. Chuck loved Bob Dylan music. He would drive to the gun range at 4am, but liked tinkering and sighting in the rifles more than the actual target practice. Banjos were much the same--he could only play three songs, but professional banjo players traveled from around the country to buy the banjos he had altered by hand. He wasn't a huge fan of contemporary music, but he really liked questionable YouTube humor. He never cooked, but when he did, it was always beef stew for some reason. He liked fancy restaurants for dinner and diners for breakfast. Chuck Goodard is preceded in death by his father, Charles Basil Goodard, his mother, Eusebia Casias, and his brother Ralph Goodard. He is survived by Henry and Gloria Domingeuz, his siblings James Espinoza, Anna Goodard, and Dolores Umbrello; his wife, Traci Goodard, and their daughters, Jessica, Elizabeth, and Caroline Goodard; his sons David and Matthew Goodard; and one granddaughter, Emma Goodard. If you'd like to honor Chuck, in lieu of flowers we request that you donate to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization in Chuck's name. This organization was a pivotal part of Chuck's life. Additionally, since Chuck was a man of many sides and many stories, we invite you to contribute your favorite Chuck stories in the form below. We've shown you a fraction of who Chuck was in this writeup. We invite you to help us paint an even brighter picture through your stories. If that's just not enough Chuck in your life, we also invite you to watch one of his favorite movies--Nacho Libre, Doc Savage, Surf's Up, Kung Fu Panda, The Forbidden Kingdom, The Expendables, and the 1999 straight-to-video production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring Donny Osmond. All of these movies are, admittedly, pretty bad, but we hope you'll enjoy them all the same. If you would like to reach out to Chuck's family, you can correspond at 704 John Ward Road, Sugar Grove, NC 28679. A celebration of life will be held for Chuck's family. A special thank you to the caregivers at the Foley Center at Chestnut Ridge, and the Liberty Hospice team for their compassionate care for Chuck in his final days.