David Laurence Goodyear's Obituary
David Laurence Goodyear was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He attended grammar school in Bogalusa and then St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University where he was a member of Fence Club. After college he served three years as a United States naval officer in California and Japan.
In 1962 he moved to New Orleans and worked for The Whitney Bank. Later he went to work for his family’s company in St. Tammany Parish. In 1968 he followed his father as president of Bogalusa Tung Oil and Money Hill Plantation. He was also president of the American Tung Oil Association. After Hurricanes Camille and Betsy, the company began to diversify, from tung oil into various farming and recreational ventures. In 1985 Mr. Goodyear began to develop several residential subdivisions including Great Southern, Whippoorwill Grove and in 1998, Money Hill Golf and Country Club.
Mr. Goodyear had a great appreciation for the natural beauty and history of the area. He was a third-generation timberman who had an extraordinary love for and knowledge of the land. A true conservationist at heart, he had an intricate working knowledge of the natural history of the area born of a lifetime of living and learning from his land. He especially loved the longleaf pine forest, whose magnificent virgin stands first drew his forefathers to this area in the late 1800’s. Always a hands-on manager, his philosophy was to protect wildlife and natural habitats while incorporating multiple uses such as recreation, farming, timber management, and rural estates. Mr. Goodyear worked diligently to integrate nature into all of his projects preserving forests and scenic vistas throughout. He was genuinely proud of working with partners such as The Nature Conservancy and the Northshore Bird Club to promote land conservation in the area. In 2008 he won the St. Tammany/Washington Parishes Home Builders Association Award for “Best Attention to Environment.” Thanks to his passion and vision, Mr. Goodyear leaves a deep and lasting legacy of this land’s natural heritage for future generations in St. Tammany Parish and Louisiana.
Mr. Goodyear was a past board member of the YMCA, the St. Tammany Parish Forestry Assn. and the New Directions 2025 Land Use Planning Commission. He was a member of the Boston Club and several carnival organizations.
He is survived by his wife, Sally Chapman Goodyear, his daughters and sons-in-law, Mimi and Bill Dossett, Ella Goodyear, Julie and Hudson Walker, six grandchildren, his sister Mary Goodyear Glenn and brother Charles W. Goodyear. He was preceded in death by his parents Charles W. and Mary Thompson Goodyear and his brother Andrew T. Goodyear.
Services will be held at Christ Episcopal Church, 120 S. New Hampshire St., Covington at 12:00 noon on Saturday, January 24, 2009.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nature Conservancy of Southeast Louisiana or to cancer research.
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