John Jeffrey Goodwin

John Jeffrey “Jeff” Goodwin passed away at home in the early morning of January 9, 2026 after a battle with lung cancer.

Born in 1949, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Jeff was fiercely committed to justice and standing up for his neighbors. He spoke often of the trials he endured in the South–including beatings–for being an uncompromising advocate of civil rights in the 1950s and 60s. His parents, artist and writer Ruth “Rickie” Van Gaasbeek Goodwin and “Noble Jack” Hunter Goodwin, an engineer for the Manhattan project, were outspoken community leaders who helped found the Oak Ridge Unitarian Church.

After his dad’s work at Union Carbide took the family to Europe, Jeff graduated from his beloved Ecolint International School of Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1967. That the school was a United Nations of sorts, with students from all over the globe, is something Jeff proudly explained to many an oncology nurse in his last few months.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Princeton in 1971 and 1973, Jeff went to work for the New York City Bureau of the Budget during the budget crisis under Mayor John Lindsay, then as a special assistant to Mayors Abe Beame and Ed Koch, directing a Medicaid task force. The so-called “Dirty Goodwin” system he created ultimately became the most successful payment processing system of its time, and reduced average time of payment from six months to a few days. He also cut costs by $300 million in one year.

Jeff then became the Director of Management and Budget at New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation until 1980 when he joined Arthur Young and Company (which later became Ernst & Young). He became a partner in 1984, in recognition of his pioneering work establishing an information systems practice. He would ultimately start InSys Technology, an IT systems consultancy.

He married Kimberlee A. Larson in 1972. After living in Brooklyn they moved to Bucks County in 1984 and divorced in 1989. Jeff and Kim had two children, Jessica G. Abbott and John J. Goodwin, but Jeff routinely asserted that he actually had four children, as he considered Jessica and John’s spouses, Henry T. Abbott and Judy P. Goodwin, to be his kids. Jeff had four grandchildren, Molly G. Abbott, Duncan W. Abbott, Charles “Charlie” M.J. Goodwin, and Betty M.S. Goodwin. He is also survived by his sister, Linda Goodwin Fei, her husband Jack Fei, their daughter Elzabeth and grandson Callum.

“There is always joy to be found,” Jeff remembered his mom saying often, “but only if you look for it.”

Anyone who would like to honor Jeff’s memory is encouraged to make a donation to HomeFront (homefrontnj.org), an organization that strives to end homelessness in Central New Jersey by harnessing community resources and expertise. Jeff dedicated countless hours over decades to tutoring children of housing-insecure families, and promoting HomeFront’s mission, which was close to his heart.

Funeral arrangements and cremation services are under the direction of Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main St. Flemington NJ 08822.  For additional information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.holcombefisher.com.