Warren Hastings Goodnow
Aug. 3, 1937-Feb. 22, 2018
Palo Alto, CA

Warren Hastings Goodnow passed away on Feb. 22, 2018 at the age of 80, in Palo Alto after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving family.

Warren was born in Washington D.C. to Charles and Margaret Goodnow. The family, including his brother Bud and sister Mary, moved to Winchester, Massachusetts where he attended Winchester High School. He was president of his senior class and earned varsity letters in three different sports. Warren graduated from MIT with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering. He joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity, where he made life-long friends. Warren played on the MIT baseball team for four years and was the team captain his junior and senior years. The famed broadcaster and Boston Globe reporter, Bud Collins, covered MIT baseball and described Warren as a baseball player who carried three gloves: one for pitching, one for catching, and one for playing on the field. Despite offers from major league baseball teams, he married his college sweetheart, Judith Mansfield (graduate of Wellesley College), and took a job in the Ice Lab at MIT. In 1962, they moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Warren’s job at Jones & Laughlin Steel.

In 1965 the family, which included two daughters (Sandy and Tracy) moved to Stanford University, where Warren earned a masters and doctorate in Metallurgy. While at Stanford, Warren and Judy welcomed their third child, son Mark. After graduation, Warren began his career at Kaiser Aluminum, and the family made their home in Palo Alto. While at Kaiser, he did research at aluminum smelters in parts of the world such as Siberia, Ghana, Wales and Tasmania. He holds several patents.

At the age of 50, after playing with various softball leagues, Warren joined the Redwood City Softball League and began 25 years of playing senior softball. His teams traveled throughout California and the western states for tournaments. In 1989, his team won the seniors softball world series in North Carolina.

During retirement, Warren and Judy enjoyed annual hiking trips in Europe with old friends, playing duplicate bridge, and family vacations to Yosemite, Maine and other favorite locations.

Warren volunteered as a long-time tutor in math and also taught math through Global Volunteers in Ghana.

Warren is survived by his wife of 58 years, Judy Mansfield Goodnow; daughter Sandy Goodnow Jara (son-in-law Randy and children Nate, Allie and Tommy) of Yorba Linda; daughter Tracy Goodnow Hughes (son-in-law Prys and children Rhiannon and Sioned) of Palo Alto; and son Mark Goodnow (daughter-in-law Maggie and children Caroline, Janie, Sam) of Seattle.