Naida Larsen Goodwin

January 1, 1924 – January 20, 2022 (age 98)

Feisty, stubborn, and a fighter. That is how the wonderful nurses and staff at Rocky Mountain Care described my mom, Naida Larsen Goodwin. Mom did not want to go, and fought strongly till the end, which came at 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 19, 2022.

Mom began life January 1, 1924 in Firth, Idaho, growing up on her parent’s ranch and graduating from Firth High School in 1941. She married DuWayne Leroy Goodwin soon after and had five children. DuWayne Leroy Goodwin was also feisty, stubborn, and a fighter and the marriage ended in divorce.

Mom left with five children and little support. She went back to College (USU) and graduated at age 47 with a Bachelor’s in Education. She began a teaching career in Cache County, Utah that took her back to Firth, Idaho and many jobs overseas including Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, and Yemen. Mom made many lasting friendships in these jobs that she cultivated and sustained into her last days.

The last days began with a fall on November 10, 2021 that resulted in a fractured hip. She was looked after and cared for at Logan Regional Hospital, Willow Glen in Brigham City, the last two months at Rocky Mountain Care in Logan, and the last week with Intermountain Hospice.

Even though feisty, stubborn, and a fighter, the nurses and staff at these institutions provided amazing comfort and care to mom without hesitation or reservation in the best traditons of the profession and in keeping with the lofty and noble ideals of our religious priciples: love and compassion.

As in her professional life, Mom prepared for this day in her private life, arranging and addressing all her affairs. To anyone reading this, make sure to get your house in order. If you know Naida, or care for her, please thank a nurse for all they do.

To close, let me quote a dear friend of Mom’s childhood days on the ranch, the matriarch of the Reid family, Agnes Just Reid:

“Fellowship
The Irish have their shamrock,
The ‘Scot his bonny heather.
In Idaho, it’s the sagebrush
That holds us all together.”

As of this writing, the family is thinking in terms of the graveside service in Goshen, Idaho. Date still to be determined.
Russell Goodwin

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at Allen Mortuaries.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.