{"id":141627,"date":"2021-09-09T11:51:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T15:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=141627"},"modified":"2021-09-09T16:25:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T20:25:40","slug":"love-persevering-9-11-peter-goodrich-89-and-a-legacy-of-love-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2021\/09\/09\/love-persevering-9-11-peter-goodrich-89-and-a-legacy-of-love-and-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Love persevering’: 9\/11, Peter Goodrich ’89, and a legacy of hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s a line from the Marvel Comics miniseries WandaVision <\/em>that rippled through popular culture earlier this year: \u201cWhat is grief but love persevering?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Peter Goodrich \u201989 died aboard hijacked United Flight 175 on Sept. 11, 2001, grief enshrouded his family and his Bates friends, as it did a country mourning so many losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife, Rachel Carr Goodrich \u201990, recalls how she \u201cwent to work happy with my life\u201d on that tragic day. \u201cI came home hours later a different person\u201d \u2014 a person grieving for what was seemingly lost: love.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, 20 years later, love has persevered, providing a path forward for Rachel and many of Peter\u2019s close friends. Love persevering has provided an opportunity to honor a man who gave so much love to his family and friends. And love persevering will someday provide scholarship support for a student to succeed at Bates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By all accounts, and there are so many of them, Peter Goodrich was a magical, loving soul, a \u201cself-proclaimed nerd,\u201d says Rachel, capable of bringing people into his sphere while marching to his own drummer. \u201cHe was happy being who he was. He never compromised his interests or his enthusiasm in order to fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Peter and Rachel Goodrich in 2001. (Photograph courtesy Rachel Goodrich)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And he was so many things. \u201cThere was always something new that beckoned to him \u2014 academic, athletic, technical, game theory, computing, physical, or the natural realm,\u201d says classmate Butch Beckmann \u201989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beckmann remembers Peter, a standout in the shot put, weight throw, and discus at Bates, practicing his throwing technique while in line in Commons. He remembers so many games of chess, and Peter describing flight mechanics of dragonflies. \u201cOr seeing Peter, standing waist deep in the brook behind his home in Williamstown, wearing a snorkel as he watched fingerling trout, popping his head out of the water to call us over to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause he was so enthusiastic about what he was learning, and so excited to tell you, you really genuinely were interested,\u201d says Rachel. \u201cLike how bugs stick to glass. I would never want to know that, but Peter made you want to know.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six-foot-plus and nearly 200 pounds by Bates graduation, Peter had been a late bloomer growing up in Williamstown, Mass. He also had dyslexia. \u201cHe was a shy little kid who was very curious about a lot of things that not every kid was interested in,” says Rachel. “Other kids did what kids do when they’re scared by someone who’s different: They called him names and picked on him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That all ended when he developed into a track and field standout in the throws. \u201cHe started to shine,\u201d Rachel says. \u201cI think his experiences as a kid gave him such compassion later in life: He never wanted anyone to feel not at ease with him or not at ease with themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Peter Goodrich throws the shot put, circa 1989. (Bates Magazine photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few years after graduation, when Karl Uhlendorf \u201990 was hurting and grieving, he turned to his friends Peter and Rachel, who took him into their home. \u201cOne night was especially bad. I couldn\u2019t shake it,\u201d Uhlendorf recalls. \u201cAround 11 p.m., Peter jumped up, said, \u2018Follow me,\u2019 and led me to the basketball court around the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They shot the ball in silence, then played some one-on-one. \u201cWe jockeyed, bumped, and pushed for rebounds. Gradually, banter and laughter took over.\u201d And with that, the clouds started to clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter loved the pool table in Adams Hall, recalls Matt Schecter \u201989. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe would spend countless hours showing me the nuances of the game. He was a math and physics major, so he would break it down by angles and what was physically possible,” says Schecter. “Whenever I play pool, I think of lessons with Pete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They bought a home in Sudbury, Mass., in 1997. By 2001, Peter was a key leader at a software company, where he was as gifted with engineering as he was creating an effective team. Rachel described her last morning with Peter, who was headed out on a business trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeter made me stop my usual rushing around morning routine in our kitchen to make me take a second to hug him \u2014 not just a quick hug, but a stop, take a breath, and really appreciate the person you are with hug, I hugged him, kissed him goodbye, told him I loved him, reminded him to return the magazine he borrowed from the neighbors, and shooed him on his way so he did not miss his plane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year after 9\/11, the town of Sudbury, Mass., holds a public commemoration to remember its three citizens who died that day. In the first few years, Rachel helped to honor Peter\u2019s memory by being front and center at each commemoration. \u201cBut I\u2019m not really good with being the center of attention. It wasn\u2019t the right thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This memorial plaque was installed near the Bates throwing circle, which was named in Peter Goodrich’s memory during a ceremony on April 27, 2002. (Jose Leiva for Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, she has honored Peter\u2019s memory more privately and quietly. She visits his grave in Sudbury in the morning and visits the town\u2019s Memorial Park \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s beautiful\u201d \u2014 in the afternoon after the public ceremony is done. \u201cI spend the day reflecting on wonderful memories and how grateful I am for having had Peter in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, remembering Peter has included receiving notes from Bates, year after year, letting her know who has made gifts in his memory. Year after year, the gifts remind Rachel that Peter\u2019s friends had not forgotten the love that he gave to them or the love they felt for him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than spend the gifts, the college placed money into the endowment for safekeeping, allowing the scholarship to grow. By late 2019, the fund was just north of $23,000, a generous figure but far less than the $100,000 required for an endowed fund to begin providing financial aid to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, staff in the College Advancement Office had offered to help promote the fund ahead of Rachel\u2019s or Peter\u2019s class Reunions. Rachel deeply appreciated the offers, but resisted. \u201cI always felt that Reunions should be about the whole class, not one person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the arrival of the 20th anniversary year of 9\/11, Rachel began reaching out to close Bates friends. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how I wanted the 20th anniversary to look, how to celebrate and honor Peter,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schecter, Peter\u2019s pool partner in Adams, was one of the friends she reached out to. He and Peter were both All-America track and field performers for coach Walter Slovenski, bonded by a shared pursuit of excellence in their gravity-defying events, Schecter in the high jump and Peter as a thrower. (In 2002, the throwing circle at Bates\u2019 outdoor track was named in Peter\u2019s memory.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter brought his math and physics chops to his throwing, Schecter told the Bates Bobcast<\/em><\/a>. “He was very scientific \u2014 his technique was just incredible. Other athletes were much bigger than Pete. But he got more out of his body than anyone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With classmate Craig Geikie, Peter served as a senior co-captain. Whether as track captain or out and about on campus, “he was caring and inclusive, always looking around the room and making sure everyone felt included,” Schecter says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The 1989 men’s indoor track team poses for a team photo. In the front row, seniors Craig Geikie, Peter Goodrich, Matt Schecter, and Joe Dever are bookended by head coach Walt Slovenski (left) and assistant coach Joe Woodhead (right). (Photograph from the 1989 Bates Mirror<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rachel talked with Schecter about struggling with the 9\/11 anniversary and the scholarship fund. \u201cWe discussed the options,\u201d Schecter recalls. \u201cI tried to help her reframe it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schecter, with other Bates friends that Rachel reached out to, talked about what the 20th could be, and what it didn’t need to be. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t another opportunity to mark his death, but rather really to celebrate his life,\u201d says Schecter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone I spoke with helped me redefine my feelings about promoting Peter\u2019s scholarship,\u201d Rachel says. \u201cFurthering the scholarship became an opportunity to celebrate and remember Peter\u2019s wonderful life. It felt perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question of whether Peter\u2019s friends would support a fund in his memory was not something she could be certain of; nearly 20 years later, after the grieving had grown quieter, did that mean the love still persevered? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer came during a Zoom call last spring. Organized by another friend, Win Brown \u201989, the call brought together Rachel and a group of friends to talk about the scholarship fund, including Jack Yang \u201989 and Suzanne Blazon Yang \u201990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Yang is the type of friend, says Rachel, who springs into action, quietly. An easy example: that moment at Rachel and Peter’s wedding when the photos needed to be taken but the space was a mess. \u201cMy mother was in a panic. Jack took out the vacuum and started vacuuming the living room. And my mother was like, \u2018He sees what needs to be done and just does it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At Peter’s 10th Reunion in 1999, he and Rachel pose with (lower right) Jack Yang \u201989 and Suzanne Blazon-Yang \u201990, and (left) Butch Beckmann ’89 and Anne Baldwin Beckmann ’89. (Photograph courtesy of Rachel Goodrich)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJack just does it, with grace and such kindness.\u201d Yang was one of the first people Rachel spoke to on 9\/11. He was the person who helped make calls to let Bates friends know what was happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with the Goodrich Scholarship Fund, Jack and Suzanne Yang were there again. Unbeknownst to Rachel, the couple \u201chad worked their magic,\u201d receiving gift commitments in excess of $50,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Rachel, it was a stunning moment. \u201cI went from hoping Peter\u2019s scholarship would be possible to feeling so much gratitude and excitement about what we may be able to do in honor of Peter \u2014 and those are not emotions that I was ever expecting to have at this time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a few months, gifts and pledges to the fund had zoomed past the required $100,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Peter M. Goodrich \u201989 Memorial Scholarship Fund is fully endowed<\/a>, totaling over $200,000 and still growing. According to its terms, the fund will provide scholarship support to Bates students \u201cwith preference for members of the men\u2019s or women\u2019s track and field teams and\/or students with demonstrated interest in STEM fields.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPete represents the student that Bates tries to foster,\u201d says Jack Yang. \u201cA person who tries new things, expands their own perspective, develops empathy and deep relationships through shared experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A white rose of remembrance honors Peter Goodrich on his Oct. 1 birthday at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. The museum places a rose at the name of each victim on their birthday. (Photograph courtesy of Rachel Goodrich)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been so much joy in connecting with everybody, making this happen \u2014 a collective group of friends, honoring someone we all love and helping future Bates students,\u201d says Rachel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, who serves as the Bates multifaith chaplain, learned of Peter Goodrich and his legacy, her response was a simple reminder of the cyclical nature of love: \u201cWe learned to love by being loved.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That idea resonates with Rachel Goodrich. \u201cNot only do I believe that we learn to love by being loved, but I believe we are healed by love. We in turn help others by our love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Peter Goodrich \u201989 died on Sept. 11, 2001, grief enshrouded his family and his Bates friends. Twenty years later, love has persevered, providing a path forward to honor his legacy at Bates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":141643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[7,24,224,11009],"tags":[12039],"class_list":["post-141627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-athletics","category-society-culture","category-the-college","tag-peter-goodrich"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141627"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141690,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141627\/revisions\/141690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}