Claremont, N.H. —
He was born Jan. 2, 1941, in Claremont, son of William Goggin and Gertrude V. Landry Goggin, and was the New Year baby for that year.
He attended Claremont public schools and graduated from Stevens High School in 1959. While in high school he was selected to participate in the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., where he successfully completed the summer program in Concepts of Mathematics.
He received the Valentine Smith Scholarship awarded by the University of New Hampshire in Durham to the incoming freshman who scored highest on a series of competitive examinations and was in the honors section in calculus. While a student at the University he was admitted to membership in Mu Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, the only national professional chemistry fraternity in the United States.
From 1965 to 1967 he studied general liberal arts and biology at Keene State College in Keene while working full time as a hospital orderly. In 1967 he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire.
From 1969 through 1971 he took graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in mathematics at Lowell Technical Institute inLowell, Mass., now UMass Lowell. From 1973 to 1974 he studied digital computers and FORTRAN programming at Lowell Technical Institute. Later as a senior citizen he took courses in Introduction to Modern Mathematics and Software Tools at Granite State College in Claremont.
Mr. Goggin was employed as a chemist for the Nashua Corporation in Nashua, N.H., and received the company’s Technical Incentive Award for product development. Commenting on a report Mr. Goggin wrote, his technical director said, “This is the best piece of technical writing I have ever read.” He later worked as a computer operator/programmer for Sanders Associates in Nashua; a computer programmer for Miniature Precision Bearing Corp. in Keene; a metallurgical technician at Joy Manufacturing Co. in Claremont and for the Coca-Cola Company in Nashua writing a training manual on sanitizing procedures for beverage processing equipment.
In November 1983, he went to work for the United State Postal Service as a letter carrier in the Claremont Post Office, where his father had worked for 51 years. He concluded his service working as the custodian for the Newport, New Hampshire, Post Office. He retired on April 30, 2016 after 33 years with the Post Office.
Mr. Goggin enjoyed reading stories to his children when they were young and later to his grandchildren. A chess enthusiast, he collected and read many books about the game. He loved climbing Mount Ascutney in Vermont, rising at 4:30 a.m. several times a week to climb to the top of the mountain before going to work. He also enjoyed photographing the mountain and his photographs were published in the Eagle-Times and displayed at Mount Ascutney State Park. His picture was featured in Valley Regional Hospital’s “Health Matters” for climbing Mount Ascutney four months after a total knee replacement. His other interests were mathematics and cryptography, creative writing and crystal radio building. He published articles in the Xtal Set Society newsletter.
He married Gloria Jean Haines Dec. 28, 1968. Besides his wife, he is survived by his sons, William Haines Goggin and his wife, Sharon Stone Goggin, of Claremont and Timothy Aaron Goggin and his wife, Ashley Just Goggin, of Laconia; his grandsons, Liam Haines Goggin and Patrick James Goggin, both of Claremont; his granddaughter, Harper Laine Goggin of Laconia; his sisters, Eleanor Goggin Isenburg of Rockville, Maryland, and Andrienne Goggin Clark of Fitchburg, Mass.; three brothers-in-law, Adair Gary Haines of Concord, David John Haines of Norwich, Vt., and Mark Allen Haines of Buckfield, Maine; several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He was predeceased in October 2014 by his sister, Gwendolyn Goggin Adams of Los Angeles.
A memorial service was held Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 97Maple Avenue, Claremont. There were no calling hours. Burial will be at a later date in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Calvary Baptist Church, 97 Maple Avenue, Claremont, NH 03743, or to Ascutney Trails Association, Attn. Barbara Rhoad, Treasurer, P.O. Box 147, Windsor, VT 05089, or Bayada Hospice, 316 Main Street, Norwich, VT 05055.