PRESENTING ARIZONA'S NEW GOVERNOR, TUCSON RESIDENT SAM GODDARD

SAM GODDARD ARIZONA'S NEW GOVERNOR

Arizona's new governor is a six foot three inch lean lawyer with a "down east" reticence and a bit of skepticism in his cool penetrating brown eyes. Touch the right button and the inner man comes alive. You see the twinkle of high good humor in those eyes, feel the radiating friendliness of his personality, but he cannot successfully hide the powerful driving force smoldering under his easy controlled manner. You feel it now and then in bits of conversation on controversial subjects. Ask any of his acquaintances, friends, co-workers, employees - even his adversaries about him and you get a unanimous answergreat personal integrity, a firm belief in himself and an insatiable desire to "do" for all those about him and to serve to the best of his ability his community, his state and his country.

The new governor probably inherits his outward reserve and inner drive from New England ancestors. John Goddard, wagon master during the Revolutionary War, so efficiently organized and secretly conducted the wagon train of fortification supplies to the front that the British siege of Boston was a failure. Great grandfather Samuel Pearson on his mother's side, was a clipper ship captain. His immediate grandfather migrated west at the close of the Civil War and his father was an officer in the Quartermaster Corps of World War I. Samuel Pearson Goddard, Jr., the governor, was born in Clayton, Missouri in 1919. Fate works in mysterious ways. That same year a baby girl was born not too many miles north as the crow flies, in Springfield, Illinois.

After youthful pre-college years in St. Louis Sam Goddard enrolled at Harvard. The Springfield lass, now comely Julia Hatch, enrolled at Wellesley. Wellesley and Harvard are not far apart, and in due time young Sam came a-courting.

Graduating in 1941, Sam Goddard, not one to trade on favors, enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army Air Corps. By 1942 he had received his first commission. In 1944 Julia Hatch and he were married at her home in the same room where Abraham Lincoln had witnessed the marriage of her grandmother and grandfather. Said grandFather, Ozias Hatch, had been Secretary of State in Illinois when Lincoln was nominated and served as his personal aide all through the Civil War.

Officer Goddard served as Communications and Operations Officer in such diverse stations as Canada, England, India and North Africa to name them alphabetically. In the summer of 1945 Mrs. Goddard came to Arizona to sit it out while her husband filled his next assignmentthe South Pacific. Lady Luck was really with them for her husband was able to join her during a short leave, to celebrate her first Christmas in the southwest. As they sat by the Christmas tree, decorated with coins from Sam's world-wide collection - for want of better ornaments, they looked around them and decided this was it.

Separated from the Air Force as Major in 1946, Goddard joined Mrs. Goddard and they settled down to make Tucson their permanent home and they have been here ever since. Their lovely rambling house of today grew just like Topsy from that first small home they built" way out in the desert." They didn't reckon with Tucson's growth. However, their home is still isolated, not by desert, but by "greenery". Gov. Goddard is a do-it-yourself man and trees, shrubbery, wall, patio, flower gardens and vegetable plots surround their house, swimming pool and play areas for the children-though they are not all children today. Terry Goddard, their oldest at 17, and an inch taller than his father is following in that father's footsteps. While at Harvard Gov. Goddard was a member of the Varsity Crew (number three or strong man) and son Terry, a student at Exeter, this past summer journeyed to Henleyon-Thames, England as a member of the Exeter crew to row in an invitational meet, then hurried home to be his father's aide in the campaign. Tim, second son and 15 is at Webb, a prep school in California-and so the only child at home is or "was" Twink. Now that he has reached the ripe old age of five this year, he has become Bill.

But to go back a little, house building and gardening were not enough to hold this vigorous active man. He soon enrolled at the University of Arizona, his second alma mater, and received his law degree in 1949, all the time becoming more and more interested in the community around him in this, his new home. He could no more remain unaware of the civic activities, whether cultural or charitable than breathe. A roster today of his accomplishments and affiliations reads like an index to Tucson's civic organizations. By 1959 he was honored as Tucson's "Man of the Year."

All through his career from before college and on, one primary interest has been history. He is an omnivorous and avid reader. Books, books and more books-newspapers and magazines by the pile give the Goddard living room a most homey look. They fit in well with the lovely inheri-ted antiques in this day of TV's glowering eye which usually dominates in family living quarters. Through the windows one can see row after row of iris, more than 500 plants in all, which vie with other seasonal flowers, citrus, and all species of ornamental plant and shrub. There is even a "glass house" to one side. Off to another side is the start of a small forest of pine trees, one tree planted for each child each Christmas. Smoky, an Australian shepherd barks and cavorts in his "yard" and Kubla Cat surveys him with easy tolerance, being senior and remembering former canine pal Kubla Khan, as she strolls about followed by Mitten the kitten. There used to be a sign at the driveway entrance - "Slow-Children", but grandfather Goddard who lived with the family until his death not so long ago, resented having anyone think his boys were not A-number one, so the sign today reads "Watch for Children" to protect active Bill and his young friends. Gov. Goddard takes after his father in thespian activities. He enjoys nothing more than a lively session with close friends in impromptu dialect skits. He had been known to portray very satisfactory Gilbert and Sullivan characterizations in amateur theatricals. As if this were not enough he has studied, appreciates and executes very acceptable water colors. In fact just about everything he sets his mind to he accomplishes.

Gov. Goddard maintains his active status in the Air Force Reserve and was last commissioned a full colonel. He presently serves in a brigadier-general capacity, while on active training duty. Some four years ago he decided he had been "grounded" in the Air Force long enough and set out to learn to fly. Today he is a licensed pilot. One of the many loves he shares in common with charming Mrs. Goddard is "south of the border". On every possible occasion they take off in the Cessna 320 twin engine job to explore the west coast of Mexico or Baja, California, relaxing and deep sea fishing. And no "gringo" is this new governor-he speaks quite passable Spanish and well knows, appreciates and greatly admires his neighbors to the south. His intense patriotism and interest in charitable welfare studies and youth activities drew him into politics, first as Pima County Precinct Committeeman and Tucson Ward Committeeman. He was then chosen State Chairman of the Arizona Democratic State Committee from 19611962. In 1962 he made a try for the governorship. In the past campaign he made it. Sam Goddard, the 28th governor of Arizona (the twelfth individual to hold that office) is the third attorney to head the state and will be the second Tucsonan in Arizona's 53rd year of statehood. Arizona, Pima County and his home town salute him!