Arthur “Dutch” Gooden, 97, a resident of Valley Bend, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002, at Civista Hospital in LaPlata, Md.
He was born born Jan. 28, 1905, at Adolph, a son of the late John Gooden and Lena Iseli Gooden Holt.
He was also preceded in death by his wife of 37 years, Clara Duffell Gooden, three brothers and two sisters.
He is survived by three daughters, Alice Van Quacthem, of Centralia, Wash., Iris Noel of San Antonio, Texas, and Patsy Forinash of Hughesville, Md.; one son, Pete Gooden of Pratt; two sisters, Genievieve Adamovich, Dearborn, Mich., Mabel Boone, Ravenswood; and one brother, Earl Holt, Billings, Montana. Fourteen grandchildren 12 great-grandchildren also survive.
As a young man, Mr. Gooden worked with his stepfather cooking in lumber camps throughout West Virginia. He worked for DuPont in Waynesboro, Va., and he also worked as the head cook at the Huttonsville Correctional Center and a cook for the Western Maryland Railroad prior to his retirement in 1970. He also served as a deputy sheriff in Randolph County and worked for a few years with the W.Va. Department of Highways. He was very active in Randolph Lodge No. 55 AF & AM of Beverly where he received his 50-year pin in 2000. He attained the 32nd degree in both the York and Scottish Rite. He enjoyed camping, hunting, trout fishing and attended the Valley Bend United Methodist Church.
Friends may call at the Tomblyn Funeral Home of Elkins from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, from the funeral home chapel with Rev. Donald L. Fitzwater officiating. Interment will follow at the Brick Church Cemetery at Huttonsville where Randolph Lodge No. 55, A.F. and A.M. will conduct Masonic Graveside Services.
