January 6, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A
A LEGACY OF
RESPECT
GOODDING CHOSEN OREGON
PERSON OF THE YEAR
Jason Goodding
Nonprofit helps family, others
By Jim Ryan
The Oregonian
D
ean Goodding has heard many stories about
his son over the past 11 months.
There’s the Tillamook building renamed
in tribute to his service. The criminals who gave
street officers a hard time but let his son arrest them
because he showed them respect. The way his boy
checked on homeless people, blankets in tow, and
gave food money to those in need.
“That’s his legacy,” Dean Goodding said.
Jason Goodding, a Seaside Police sergeant killed
by a wanted felon in February, is The Oregonian’s
2016 Oregon Person of the Year. His vigil and pub-
lic memorial drew crowds totaling more than 3,000
overall. Many people sent support to Seaside Police.
And more than 43 percent of Oregonian/OregonLive
voters picked him for the posthumous honor.
Such responses, the elder Goodding said, mean
a lot to the family. But the remembrances bring a
renewal of the pain of losing a loved one. It’s like
ripping off a scab that will eventually heal with time.
“We’re very proud of him,” Dean said.
Goodding, a 39-year-old police veteran and mar-
ried father of two, was fatally shot while trying to
arrest a felon outside a downtown restaurant Feb.
5. His partner returned fire, hitting the felon three
times. The two men died at separate hospitals. Flags
across the state were flown at half-staff for Good-
ding.
He was the 10th Oregon officer killed in the line
of duty since 2007.
Colleagues remembered Goodding as a tenacious
investigator and consummate professional who was
active in the city’s youth sports scene and earned re-
spect by showing it. Goodding’s boss said he was
“the best of what anybody’s looking for” in an offi-
cer. His high school hoops coach said it’s easy to see
how he went from standout student-athlete to lauded
officer.
Goodding’s philosophy was simple, according to
his father: Bad people have gotten off the right path,
but there’s good in everybody.
“And I’m going to find it.”
Perfect role
Goodding, a Portland State University and Sher-
wood High School graduate, started his police career
as a reserve officer in McMinnville then was hired in
Seaside shortly after in 2003.
“That department absorbed him,” his father said.
Goodding served as a patrol officer and detective
before becoming a sergeant in 2007 — a role he was
perfect for, said Seaside Police Sgt. Rich Nofield.
JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
An officer stands watch by Sgt. Jason Goodding’s
casket before a memorial service In February. The
Seaside Police sergeant who was killed in the line of
duty was chosen by readers as The Oregonian’s 2016
Person of the Year.
Nofield, named to his current position this sum-
mer, said he also applied for the job but knew Good-
ding was the best candidate.
He recalled Goodding was concerned that his in-
terview with the chief took 15 minutes and Nofield’s
six times that. But Nofield said he spent his inter-
view telling the chief how great his colleague was.
“If you have a passion, he would talk to you about
it, tell you how you can go achieve it, help you try to
achieve it, and then the next day he’s like, ‘How we
doing on this?’” Nofield said in February.
Goodding loved his co-workers and the commu-
nity. He had two children with the woman he met as
an eighth-grader, and they lived next to the county
Sheriff Tom Bergin at the dead end of a gravel road.
He was an avid Oregon Ducks fan, liked to work
out and played on an adult law-enforcement football
team.
His passion for athletics was longstanding: He
captained his high school basketball and football
teams, leading the latter to the state championship
game during his senior season. Dean Goodding said
his son was named the school’s male athlete of the
year as a senior.
A former coach, who considers Goodding a
friend, called him a quintessential leader who picked
others up and had a trademark smile.
The coach, Roger Schenk, said he didn’t know
how many lives Goodding had touched until he was
gone.
His guess as to why Goodding’s story resonated
so widely? People know a Jason Goodding in their
own towns.
Schenk was among those who organized a non-
profit — called the Bowmen Family Foundation, for
Sherwood’s mascot — after Goodding’s death. Schenk
said the organization is in memory of Goodding and
Marine Capt. Aaron J. Contreras, who was killed in a
2003 helicopter crash in Iraq.
Schenk said the organization has raised about
$80,000, which it has put toward a range of causes.
Among them: setting up a trust fund for Goodding’s
girls, helping remodel their house and contributing to
three Sherwood families in need of assistance.
It has also set up scholarships for Sherwood stu-
dents interested in being first responders and nurses —
Amy Goodding, Jason’s widow, is a registered nurse.
Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham said a former officer
and current Portland fireman also helped spearhead a
memorial scholarship effort in Seaside.
Tributes and recognition have rolled in since his
killing. Goodding was posthumously awarded the
state’s Medal of Ultimate Sacrifice.
His death prompted an outpouring of love and re-
spect in Seaside and elsewhere, said Ham, who was
Goodding’s close friend. The solidarity was evident
in Seaside after Goodding’s killing: A pair of memori-
als cropped up, and hundreds attended a vigil and his
public service. People lined shutdown streets during a
poignant processional leading to the service.
‘I’ll never forget that’
Dean Goodding said a Seaside golf course wanted
to do something right away. So only a week after the
public service, the course hosted a tournament in his
son’s name. Anyone could play.
Dean was in the refreshments cart, cruising the
course, when he came upon a foursome that was
whacking the ball, obviously unfamiliar with the sport.
One of them hailed him down.
The man had heard Dean was the slain sergeant’s
father. And he had a story to tell.
The man threw his arms around Dean and thanked
him for raising Goodding. They had gotten to know
one another, Dean recalled the man saying, because
Goodding had arrested him more than once.
He was sentenced to prison at some point. But
Goodding tracked him down after his release. The ser-
geant also found the man a job.
It was an encounter that spoke to his son’s influ-
ence.
“Where do you put that in life?” the elder Goodding
asks.
“I’ll never forget that.”
Everton Bailey Jr. and Robbie DiMesio of The
Oregonian contributed to this report.
Barber, Brown look to the new year
Seaside Signal
What’s ahead in 2017?
Seaside Mayor Jay Barber
and Gearhart Mayor Matt
Brown shared the biggest
challenges facing their cities
in the coming year.
“We have a City Coun-
cil that works well together
and gets things done,” Bar-
ber said. “One of the sig-
nificant challenges will be
swearing in two new coun-
cilors in the new year, one
newly elected and one that
the council will appoint to
fill the now vacant coun-
cilor seat from Ward 1 and
getting them on board and
working well with the oth-
er four councilors and the
mayor.
“With the approval of the
bond issue for the Seaside
School District, it will be in-
cumbent upon the Planning
Commission and the council
to address the expansion of
the urban growth boundary
in the new year to bring the
new campus into the city
and work to provide proper
access to the new location,”
Barber continued.
“I hope 2017 brings
a sense of calmness and
cooperation, working to-
gether with our citizens
and other cities in Clatsop
County to solve common
problems, such as afford-
able housing,” Gearhart’s
Brown said. “I’m looking
forward to having work
sessions with our fellow
councilors in the months to
come to work on strategic
planning for the next four
years and prioritizing what
is important to our resi-
dents.”
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