Joe Goodrich
| Date and Place of Birth: | December 7, 1919 Wisconsin Rapids, WI |
| Date and Place of Death: | April 8, 1945 Luzon, Philippines |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Third Base |
| Rank: | Technician Fifth Grade |
| Military Unit: | 32nd Infantry Division, US Army |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
We offer our sympathy, small solace that it may be, to Joe's
dad and mother and to his brother, Jim... They have lost a son and a
brother. Wisconsin Rapids has lost an excellent sportsman and a good
friend.
Don Unferth, sports editor, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune May 1, 1945
Joe K. Goodrich Jr., the son of Joe and Elizabeth Goodrich, was born
in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin on December 7, 1919.
Goodrich was a standout athlete at Lincoln High School, competing in
baseball, football, basketball and track. In 1936 the school football
team were Wisconsin Valley Conference champions - Goodrich made a
memorable 60-yard touchdown run against Rhinelander that season. And it
wasn't just Goodrich's football prowess that made the headlines that
year - he also played first base for the American Legion junior state
champions.
After graduating from high school, Goodrich continued to excel in sports
at Central State Teachers College at Stevens Point. By 1939 he was
playing baseball during the summer in the Wood County amateur league for
Johnson-Hill of Wisconsin Rapids. In the winter he played basketball
with Schnabel in the Wisconsin Rapids City League, and in 1942 Schnabel
were league champions with Goodrich selected as the league's "best
sportsman."
Joe Goodrich had developed a reputation locally as an athlete and a fine
citizen. "Joe ... was a hero to the youngsters," a Wisconsin Rapids
Daily Tribune article declared on November 5, 1949. "They liked
him, not only because he played with 'the team' but because he was never
too busy to take little time from his own occupations to instruct the
neighborhood youngsters in the finer points of athletic competition and
fair play.
"During the summertime," the article continued, "Joe spent many hours
tossing a football or baseball with the kids from his own neighborhood
and the group often included a good many other children from the blocks
surrounding Elm Street."
In October 1942, Goodrich joined the Army. By the middle of 1944 he was
stationed at New Guinea in the Pacific with the 32nd Infantry Division.
"We have a good softball team over here," he told the Daily
Tribune's sports editor, Don Unferth in August 1944. "We can't play
baseball because of the time involved and lack of large playing fields.
Our record is highly impressive, especially since we are a line outfit
and don't get any time to practice, to say nothing of playing. Yesterday
we lost our first game in months. The score was 3-0 and we had but one
hit while our opponents had only three. I was very lucky as I got our
only hit playing over my head, I guess. I am batting better than I ever
have - .335. They wanted to move me up to fourth as our big guns are in
a slump. However, I prefer to remain 'second clean-up' as Klandrud [his
high school coach] used to tell me. In other words, eighth up.
"We have several minor league ball players on the club," Goodrich
continued. "Our pitcher is Fred Konchio, the fellow who pitched for the
world champion Briggs team of Detroit."
Goodrich was back in touch the following month: "Just dropping you a few
lines to tell you about a ball game we won yesterday. With Freddie
'Fireball' Konchio, the fellow I mentioned in a previous letter,
pitching no-hit ball, our company defeated the former South Pacific
champions, 6-0."
In the spring of 1945, Goodrich wrote his parents and instructed them to
give his baseball equipment to the neighborhood kids. He had heard there
was a shortage of equipment in the States and wanted the youngsters of
Wisconsin Rapids to have the chance to play ball.
Shortly afterwards, the tragic news was received that Technician Fifth
Grade Joe Goodrich had been killed in action on April 8, 1945, fighting
the Japanese at Luzon in the Philippines.
"We offer our sympathy," wrote Unferth, "small solace that it may be, to
Joe's dad and mother and to his brother, Jim, who is at Camp Atterbury,
Indiana. They have lost a son and a brother. Wisconsin Rapids has lost
an excellent sportsman and a good friend."
Goodrich's body was returned to Wisconsin Rapids for reburial at the
Forest Hill Cemetery in May
1949. That same month, Chester Derezinski, a senior at central State
Teachers College was the first recipient of the Joe Goodrich Memorial
Trophy, presented by Joe's parents for "outstanding work in athletics,
general scholarship and service to the school."
In November 1949, the Joe K. Goodrich Memorial Book fund was presented
to the T. B. Scott Public Library in Wisconsin Rapids, funds that had
been raised by friends and neighbors of Joe Goodrich for the library to
purchase books for children.
Date Added February 6, 2013 Updated July 11, 2013
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