Goodwin, who moved into Kingston of Miamisburg nursing facility in January 2019, contracted COVID-19 last October, said his daughter, Bonnie Van Zandt, of Lebanon. Instead of a trip to the hospital, he was moved to an area within the nursing home dedicated to those who had been infected with the virus, she said.
“He was just there for maybe 10 days,’ Van Zandt said. “He didn’t even have symptoms until after he got over there and then he, for a period of time, lost his sense of smell and taste and was on oxygen.”
“We call him an old codger. He’s just a tough old bird,” she said.
Goodwin joked that his recovery is due, in part, to what he eats.
“See, I’m allergic to oatmeal and I eat it every day,” he said. “It makes me sneeze and, you know how when you sneeze, somebody will say ‘Bless you?’ Well, I get six or eight ‘bless you’s every day, so I think that’s what it is.”
Goodwin has a history of being a survivor. Born Nov. 29, 1918, he lived through the Great Depression, was one of five brothers to be drafted during World War II and underwent bypass surgery at 55 years old.
“He’s a rule follower, so when he got home, he went on a strict diet and he started exercising and walking,” Van Zandt said. “In the winter, he would use his exercise bike.”
Goodwin said he started out his exercise routine by walking one block, then two and three. Eventually, “I got up to walking to Woody’s (Market in West Carrollton) two-and-a-half miles (there) and then back two-and-a-half miles,” he said.
Doctors who removed the vein from Goodwin’s leg for the bypass said it would last about 10 years, his daughter said. Instead, it’s lasted 48.
Goodwin credits his longevity to exercising religiously for decades, never smoking or doing drugs and drinking very little alcohol.
Even if his mobility is not good, her father’s mind has stayed sharp, Van Zandt said. He enjoys watching television, especially Cincinnati Reds games, game show Jeopardy and the History Channel. He also heads to the Kingston of Miamisburg dining room to enjoy musical events or participate in exercise sessions.
Work also helped him keep active most of his life.
Moving to Miamisburg in the early 1950s with his late wife, Mary, Goodwin found work at Buckeye Bait Corp. and then Broadway Mold & Tool in Dayton, where he worked until retirement in 1983. When he “got bored” with not working for a few years, he found a job at Miamisburg’s Plas-Tix USA, where he was employed until he was 84 years old.
Goodwin, who remains a member of American Legion Post 165 in Miamisburg, stayed active in the the American Legion Honor Guard even into his 90s. For his 100th birthday, friends and family, including Goodwin’s three children, threw him a party at the post. He has five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
With his 103rd birthday a little more than a month away, Goodwin said he looks forward to getting the chance to celebrate another year with family and friends, something he was only able to do through a window last year because COVID restrictions closed Kingston of Miamisburg to visitors.
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