Deceased December 24, 2022
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In Memory
Otherwise quite healthy and in good shape, in mid-November John, tragically, slipped and fell in his kitchen, hitting his head on the countertop and suffering a severe concussion. Hospitalized, he was alert and conversant with his wife, Barbara, and daughter and son until he died on Christmas Eve of bleeding in the brain.
John was an ordained Unitarian minister since the late 1960s, with his first congregation in Augusta, Ga. He obtained a graduate degree in psychology in Southern California a few years later and combined the two professions in group and individual therapy sessions, much of the time in Berkeley, Calif. Upon retirement eight or nine years ago, he and Barbara moved to the Seattle area to be near their daughter and family.
John came to Amherst from the Belmont Hill School, pledged Phi Delta Sigma and majored in political science. He was the Amherst soccer goalie, and his strong play at that position resulted in a six-win, two-loss senior season. The losses were to Harvard and Wesleyan. His final two games were shutouts over Trinity and Williams.
This writer remembers the wonderful summer of 1955 when John and his buddy Russ Knowles ’56 came west to Lake Tahoe, where they got jobs waiting tables at the famous Tahoe Tavern for a glorious two months prior to senior year.
John is survived by Barbara and his daughter and son and their families. Sincere condolences to the entire Goldthwait family.
Peter Levison ’56