Felix Emmett Goodson II

Monday, May 21, 2007

Nov. 14, 1922-May 17, 2007

Felix Emmett Goodson II, 84, Greencastle, died Thursday at his residence.

Born in Model, Colo., he was the son of Felix E. and Stella Goodson Sr.

He grew up in the Cimarron Valley of New Mexico, and in 1938 graduated from Clayton High School in Clayton, N.M.

A U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, he was a prisoner of war of the Japanese in the Philippines for more than three years. While in the army, he attained the rank of technical sergeant, and earned several medals including the Purple Heart. He was active in the Indiana Guard Reserve and retired as a colonel in 1995.

He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Princeton University in 1949. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees in psychology from the University of Missouri in 1952 and 1954. From 1954-85 he taught at DePauw University, where he received the alpha Delta Sigma-Sigma Delta Chi "Best Teacher Award" in 1960 and the Academic Council Outstanding Professor Award for 1979-80. In addition to writing numerous published academic papers, he authored textbooks in psychology, including "The Evolutionary Foundations of Psychology" in 1973 and "The Evolution and Function of Cognition" in 2003. He also wrote the novels "O' Cimarron" in 2001 and "Three Sips to Moji" in 2004, which was originally published as "Sweet Salt" in 1976.

Surviving are daughters Jane Moraine and husband Gene, Del Rio, Texas, and Holly Hildreth and husband Mike, South Bend; sons James Goodson and wife Debra, Somerset, Ky., John Goodson and wife Dorothy, Atlanta, Ga., Felix E. Goodson III and wife Susanne, Downingtown, Pa., Boyd Goodson and wife Amy, Carbondale, Ill., and Brad Goodson, Oakland, Calif.; brother John Goodson, Fresno, Calif.; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters LaVerne Hanners, Virginia Dickenson, Barbara Gallup and brother Villa Cecil Goodson.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Hopkins-Rector Funeral Home, Greencastle.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Tuesday.

Memorial contributions can be made to DePauw University Psychology Department in the name of the Felix E. Goodson Award for Excellence in Research.