Whitney Ann (Harrison) Goodhue, the beloved wife of Mark J. Goodhue of Reading, passed away on February 4, 2023, at her home, after a short all-consuming struggle with pancreatic cancer, at 54. She had been a sales manager for Verizon Yellow Pages in Waltham, and currently represented IDBS, a division of Danaher Corporation.
She was the daughter of Ronald B. Harrison of Salem and his late wife Jane (Blanchard) Harrison.
Born in White Plains, NY, she attended Salem Schools, and graduated from Northfield Mt. Hermon School, in Gill, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She also earned a Master’s Degree in Business from Simmons University in Boston, finishing first in her class in Marketing.
After college Whitney taught English language for a year in Nagoya, Japan, gaining enough fluency in Japanese to banter and laugh with taxi drivers while traveling the city.
Leaving Verizon at the birth of her triplet children, Hannah, Emily, and John Goodhue, now 17 and students at Reading Memorial High School, she devoted her life to raising them until rejoining the workforce with IDBS.
She participated fully in the lives of her children, driving them to their soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball games, helping them meet their high school civic credit obligations, working with them manning area food kitchens and on other municipal upkeep projects in Reading and elsewhere until being diagnosed with cancer in late September 2022.
She was an active member and role model in the community, whether it was leading a Girl Scout troop or volunteering at any and all town events. She especially loved Adopt-A-Family at the holidays and was passionate about helping people in need.
Tall and statuesque, when she smiled you couldn’t be luckier except if she loved you.
Her smile brightened any place she entered and a gentle manner welcomed strangers to her world and, once there, they remained. Her reading tastes varied from children’s books, which she loved even in adulthood, to a love of mysteries inherited from her mother.
A gregarious, fun, and loving person, she participated in many civic activities in Reading and maintained longtime, far-reaching relationships with her friends and acquaintances across the country and, in some cases, the world. She was a loving and exceptional daughter.
Whitney was creative with words and ingenious in deeds and could turn used egg boxes, castoff socks, and other items into wonderfully imaginative Halloween costumes for her children. Her made-up stories and tales held small children, mouths agape and spellbound as they listened. Conversationally, she could be uproariously funny in group settings.
In addition to her husband, children and father, she is survived by a brother, Bradford Harrison of Lynnfield, and many nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be held at the Douglass, Edgerley and Bessom Funeral Home 25 Sanborn St. (corner of Woburn St.) Reading on Friday, February 10, 2023 from 4:00-8:00pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday February 11, 2023 at St. Patrick’s Church 71 Central St. Stoneham at 10:00am. Burial will follow at Wood End Cemetery in Reading.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Whitney’s memory to Adopt A Family c/o Reading Rotary Club PO Box 61Reading, MA 01867 (Please make check out to Reading Rotary put Adopt A Family in memo line) or Reading Food Pantry 6 Salem St. Reading MA 01867.
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