Dear Fellow Members –
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the passing of Art Goddard, one of our long time volunteers, due to cancer on February 13, 2021. He was 78.
Art and his wife Mary Ellen moved to Costa Mesa in 1977 and she started volunteering at the Society shortly after that. “Art began volunteering for computer stuff, when we first got our Apple (the little one with the tiny screen in a tall little box) in the early 1980s” said Mary Ellen and he has been our main “tech guy” ever since, working primarily behind the scenes. As he told “I Heart Costa Mesa” in 2015, “I saw that this place really needed some technical expertise, some computer savvy. So, I began the process of switching us from paper and things that weren’t going to work in the future, to something that would.”
Art obtained a Bachelors degree from Worchester Polytechnic Institute, attended the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and received a Masters from Montana State University-Bozeman in electrical engineering. He then embarked on a 32 year career starting with Collins Radio and later Boeing, retiring from there as an executive in 2001 which gave him more time to devote to the Society and other hobbies.
One of those hobbies was ham radio. He was first licensed for that in 1956 and was a life member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) holding positions in that organization. Art was active on the air from HF through microwaves. A member of the Southern California Contest Club, he took part in contest expeditions, travel was another hobby, to locations ranging from subarctic to tropical around the world.
As part of his volunteering, Art and Mary Ellen collaborated on two books on behalf of the Society published through Arcadia Publishing and still available. They are: Early Costa Mesa (2009) and Costa Mesa: 1940-2003 (2016).
Additionally, Art and Mary Ellen were heavily involved with the Friends of the Library and strong proponents for a new library and at which opening they were recognized in May, 2019.
No Public services are planned at this time but it hoped that a memorial service will be held in 5-6 months when Covid is past us and public assemblies are again possible.
Sympathy cards may be addressed as follows:
Mary Ellen Goddard and Family
c/o Costa Mesa Historical Society
P.O. Box 1764
Costa Mesa, CA 92628
Kind Regards,
Terry Shaw
President, CMHS
Art was a brilliant, erudite and kind man. He is, and will be, missed. His wit was sharp as was his mind. He was good to friends and family. Godspeed.