Glenn Dean Goodwin, 79, of Ottumwa, left this earth at 7:40 a.m. January 24, 2025 at Regency Care Center in Norwalk after battling a long illness.
He was born September 10, 1945 in Ottumwa to Glenn and Lorene Fite Goodwin and he was raised in his stomping grounds of Floris, IA. He married Dorothy Hoeppner in Cedar Rapids on October 1, 1966 and she preceded him in death on December 24, 2011.
Glenn graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1963. After graduation, he jumped into the workforce and was a manager for Giant Shoe in Cedar Rapids. He then worked as a custodian for the Cedar Rapids Community School District. In 1962, Glenn and his cousin, Don Daughtery, started a band and named themselves “The Legends”. While on tour with the Legends, he opened up with notable musicians like Razzy Bailey, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Everly Brothers and many more rockers. They performed under this name until 1967, at which time they changed the name to “The American Legends”. While touring with The American Legends, he opened up with Ricky Nelson and many others. His longtime band members were like brothers to him, Don Daughtery and Craig Cronbaugh, as well as many other band brothers over the years. Time passed and things changed, in 1983, another band was formed, it would be the last and most memorable, “Nite Moves”. Glenn was the lead singer for all three bands. On September 3, 2000, in Arnolds Park, IA, the first band, “The Legends” was introduced into the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Glenn and Don Daughtery were honored at the Iowa State Capitol for 40 years of continuous music in the State of Iowa on May 5, 2003. His main love of life was singing, it started for him around the age of 5, singing for Pie Suppers which helped make enough money to purchase school playground equipment for Bunker Hill School. Glenn enjoyed singing to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was an avid supporter of our Veteran’s Clubs, he loved football and baseball and would root for his favorite teams, Iowa Hawkeyes, Kansas City Chiefs and the St. Louis Cardinals. He enjoyed his longtime best friend, Jim Reyes.
He is survived by his children, Sue (Jeff) Lawrence, David (Amy) Goodwin, twin daughters, Victoria Andersen-Lammers and Kathryn (Jess) Ellsworth, twin son, Donald (Tracy) Goodwin; 30 grandchildren; 8 plus great grandchildren; his siblings, Carol (Paul) Yochum, Mary (Howard) Carruthers and Dixie (Dick) Schark; a brother-in-law, Marvin Whitmore; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; twin daughter, Ellen Timmons; brother, Wallace Goodwin; sisters, Ardath Teeters and Martilla Whitmore; brother-in-law, Clyde Teeters; sons-in-law, John Lammers and Don Timmons.
Visitation will begin at noon on Wednesday, January 29th at Reece Funeral Home with the family present to greet friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Thursday, January 30th at Reece Funeral Home with Pastor Mel Kendall officiating. Burial will be in Floris Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Za-Ga-Zig Shriners or to Amvets.
