Travels with my Aunt

Last Saturday I received a phone call informing me that my aunt, Martha (Goodwin) Mudd, had died. She was the youngest of 7 children by my grandparents Samuel and Rosemarie Goodwin. I got to know my Aunt a little before my father and mother moved us out to Utah in search of employment, and from visits to and from Illinois. When I was older and on my own, several trips east were always rewarded with a stay at my Aunt’s. She always told me stories of her travels with her husband Patrick. First around the United States and then overseas. Her descriptions of national parks and big cities around the country encouraged me to follow suit after I got married to Lynne. The travels abroad and tales of palaces, great cathedrals and historical places encouraged us to follow in her footsteps. Whether she was visiting Scandinavia, Russia, Europe or Asia, I was always impressed with her stories and especially her account of visiting Croatia to locate the city of her mother’s parents and relatives. They were noted gourmets and always took us to the best restaurants, not the most expensive, but the ones with the very best food. They also instilled in our only son, Rob, a great love of good food and faraway places as well. My aunt was also an excellent artist, the first active one in the family. She signed her paintings, M. Goodwin, preferring to use her maiden name. So when I became an artist, I was obliged to sign my work, M. C. Goodwin, but I have never been bothered by this, preferring to honor her achievements as the first. While we never got to travel abroad with Martha and Pat, we did get to show them around our area with places like the Golden Spike National Monument, Ogden, Salt Lake and much of the back country of the Wasatch Mountains. Martha and Pat were very excited to visit us during the construction of the museum and with hard hats firmly in place, eagerly and fearlessly climbed through the half-finished building listening to Lynne’s descriptions of future exhibits. Returning a couple years later Martha contributed more then she could afford to help the museum move forward. My Aunt was a wonderful, positive influence on my life and my family’s, she will be greatly missed. (From left to right, my cousin Connie, me, Martha and my son, Rob at the museum a few years ago).