Daniel Jackson Goodwin

Daniel “Danny” Jackson Goodwin, age 99, our loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend, peacefully passed away in his sleep and reunited with his true love on December 24, 2016 in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

Danny was born May 12, 1917 in Rocklick, West Virginia to Leo Clyde and Flossie Donna Hewitt Goodwin. On December 16, 1944, he married Magdalyn Louise Gust in Bingham Canyon, Utah. They shared 51 years together.

Danny continually stated, “Things always seem to fall into place.” His life was a living testament of that quote. As a young boy, he worked and played music alongside his family. One of his first jobs was working in his uncle’s coalmine in West Virginia, training mules to haul coal. As a teenager, he learned to sing and play the Banjo, Guitar, and Fiddle. While singing and playing in a talent contest, Doc Grey, of the Doc Grey Feathers Road Show, discovered his gift for music. Danny’s coined musical name was “Smilin Jack,” and his stardom continued to rise. He then teamed up with Frankie Moore’s Log Cabin Boys doing adds for Log Cabin syrup and performing in the Wheeling Jamboree (similar to the Grand Old Opry). He later moved to Chicago, playing background music on WGN radio for Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry, and the Sons of the Pioneers. In 1941, after World War II started, he joined the Army - 211th Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Unit stationed in Camp Helen Texas. The Army transported his regiment by cattle cars to the California coast near San Francisco after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Army planned to ship the regiment overseas, but rumors of one-man submarine bombings, torpedoing the coastline prevented their departure. The Army ordered Danny to setup anti-aircraft defenses to protect Mare Island. Once the Army discovered Danny had previous mining experience in 1943, they transferred him to Fort Douglas, Utah, working for the US Mine in Bingham Canyon, Utah. Towards the end of the war, he fell in love with Magdalyn L. Gust. They married six months later. After the war ended, he worked for Mountain Fuel Supply making .75 cents an hour. Danny worked at Mountain Fuel Supply for 33 years specializing in gas range repair. In 1948, Danny and May settled in Millcreek, Utah having two sons. His favorite time spent after work was landscaping and gardening. He also loved vacationing, fishing, touring, and relaxing with his family at Yellowstone National Park for 25+ years. In 1979, he began a 37-year retirement. He continued to camp with his family in Park City and picked up other hobbies along the way. Some include putting together puzzles, maintaining his beautiful yard, and especially making friends while operating a CB under the handle “Rosebud.” Danny worked hard and lived life to the fullest. As things continued to fall into place during his life, he always reminded everyone “all my days are good ones, because that’s my name.”

Survived by his two sons, Benny and Jack Herbert, both of Salt Lake City, Utah, one grandson, Matthew Daniel (wife, Mandy Postma) of Herriman, Utah, and two great-granddaughters, Maelynn and Olivia Grace of Herriman, Utah. Preceded in death by his wife, Magdalyn Louise, his mother Flossie Goodwin, his father Leo Clyde Goodwin, and three sisters, Juanita Goodwin Guthrie, Margie Goodwin Darst, and Desa Goodwin Cashman.

Our family wishes to thank the loving care and friendship of Ginger Steensma, Beckie Bradshaw, Jolene Wilkinson, and Mike Backman of Solstice Home Health Hospice Care and staff, Cassandra Goff of Millcreek Home Health, as well as the nursing of the Coventry Assisted Living Center where Danny lived for five years.

Graveside service will be held at 11:00am on Wednesday, January 4, 2017 at the Midvale City Cemetery. Friends may visit with the family on Tuesday evening January 3, 2017 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East. Online memories and tributes can be posted for the family at: www.HolbrookMortuary.com. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be sent to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Utah Chapter at CFF.org.