Dr. Maxwell Williams Goodman

Maxwell W. Goodman (Mickey” or “Dr. Mike”) died on September 2, 2019, at home in Chapel Hill, NC. He was 87 years old. A graduate of William Penn High School in York, PA, Dr. Goodman attended Franklin & Marshall College, followed by medical school at McGill University. He is also an alumnus of the the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Masters Degree in pharmacology. Dr. Goodman is predeceased by his parents, Abe & Hilda (Williams) Goodman of York, and by his sister Deborah Levy & her husband Gilbert. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Sheila (Caplan), 3 children and their spouses (Judith Goodman & her husband Terry Westendorf of Chapel Hill, NC; Philip Goodman & his wife Joanne of Annapolis, MD; Alan Goodman & his wife Debbie of Salisbury, MD), 7 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. Dr. Goodman was commissioned as a Naval officer while in medical school. He qualified in submarines and was widely known for pioneering scientific and practical work on saturation diving, at the Navy’s Experimental Diving Unit and later at the Westinghouse Ocean Engineering division in Annapolis, MD. In 1971, Dr. and Mrs. Goodman (RN, Sinai Hospital Nursing School) opened a family medical practice in Annapolis and for the next decade served the medical needs of thousands of patients. In 1983, the Goodmans moved to Bethany Beach, DE, opening a medical office & emergency clinic in Ocean View, caring for local residents and summer visitors. There, Dr. Mike also fulfilled his dream to be firefighter, as a proud member of the Bethany Beach VFD. Dr. Goodman retired from the practice of medicine in 1994. He is the author of a book on the history of firefighting equipment, “Inventing the American Fire Engine” and of a text on ocean engineering, “Man Beneath the Sea.” Burial with military honors will be held at Markham Memorial Gardens in Durham, NC.