Weston E. ‘Wes’ Goodnow
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Weston E. “Wes” Goodnow, 80, passed away Monday May 4, 2015 at Lakeview Village, surrounded by the love of his family and friends, and the amazing caregivers of Crossroads Hospice.
Wes was born February 24, 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Frank Weston and Josephine Ellis Goodnow. He attended W.C. Bryant grade school and graduated from Southwest High School.
Boy Scouting became an integral part of Wes’s life. Known in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say as Firebuilder “Little Jayhawk,” he earned his Eagle in 1951, the same year in which he attended the World Jamboree in Austria. He embodied the twelve points of the Scout Law each and every day of his life.
Wes graduated from Southwest High School in 1953. He attended the University of Kansas where he majored in Civil Engineering. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, and continued to serve the fraternity for many years in various alumni positions. He proudly displayed his lifelong love of KU with a variety of Jayhawk attire.
Wes enlisted in the United States Army in 1956. He graduated from Language School and served in the Army Security Agency during the Cold War. He was honorably discharged in 1962, but remained fluent in Russian until his memory declined.
Wes joined Burns and McDonnell as a Junior Engineer in October of 1961. During his 35 years of service, he was Project Engineer and Project Manager on local, national and foreign assignments. At the time of his retirement in 1996, he was the Director of Quality Control for the company.
In 1963, Wes married Kay London. For the next 51 years, the former “girl next door” was the love of his life and the center of his world. He was unfailingly loyal to her and to their marriage as they raised three children and spoiled nine grandchildren together.
Wes met many dear and lifelong friends through his participation in a wide variety of personal and professional organizations. He coached and managed his daughters’ Nall Hills softball teams and served as the leader of his son’s Cub Scout Pack, #3286 out of John Diemer Elementary School.
Blessed be the memory of Weston E. ‘Wes’ Goodnow