John Goode, born September 24, 1934 and deceased September 16, 2024, embodied the entrepreneurial spirit. A polyglot who served on over one hundred company boards the world over, he was a portrait of the globetrotting, forward-thinking executives who built out the international reach of American business in the second half of the 20th century. As a distinguished DePaul alumnus, his life left an indelible impact on the DePaul community. 

An entrepreneurial upbringing 

Born in the depths of the Great Depression, Goode quickly found his footing as a resourceful and creative young man. He embarked upon an enterprising path early: his first job was at the cash register of his mother’s shop at age seven, where he also took care of customers and stocked shelves. He was a quick study, even taking two buses to distributors to pick up boxes of candy for the store.  

Goode’s development through adolescence and into adulthood was a DePaul story through and through. In his high school years he attended DePaul Academy, an all-boys Catholic high school founded in 1898 – the same year that Saint Vincent’s College, better known today as DePaul University, was also established.  

It was a tumultuous period for Goode, who dropped out of school for a time and got into his share of trouble. But he eventually felt compelled to return to school, and begged DePaul Academy’s Father Fitzgerald to let him return. Father Fitzgerald was a talented teacher who would become a key mentor figure for Goode. The whole experience changed his life. It would also turn out to be the beginning of a fruitful, lifelong relationship with DePaul.

Goode went on to enroll at the Catholic university in the shady groves of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood in the late 1950s. During his studies, he was married with three children and worked full time as a doorman. In 1960, he became the first in his family to graduate from college. It would be the beginning of a long, remarkable journey, for which he would eventually be recognized and honored as a distinguished alumnus of DePaul University. 

A legacy of success, service, and kindness 

Goode’s positive attitude, natural talents, and DePaul education all propelled him into a remarkable business career. He worked his way up the corporate ladder to hold senior executive positions at many Fortune 500 industrial companies, eventually owning and serving as board chairman for Prestolite Electric, K&W Products, AP Labs, and American Innotek. He also invested in many businesses, and mentored many business owners over the years.  

Through it all, Goode retained a deep fondness for his time at DePaul, which he always believed had made a significant impact on his life, going all the way back to his formative experiences at DePaul Academy with Father Fitzgerald. And so, following his successes in the business world, Goode returned to the DePaul community to teach for the Department of Accounting in what was then the DePaul College of Commerce, eventually serving as an Associate Dean in the 1980s.  

Although Goode went on to obtain advanced degrees from the University of Chicago and Northern Illinois University, he always maintained that DePaul had the greatest impact on his life. In true DePaul fashion, Goode was also an avid basketball fan, traveling to see the Blue Demons play in the NCAA Final Four in 1979. Eventually, all four of his children – John Jr., Sue, Lee, and Jim – would all attend DePaul themselves. His son, John Jr., even received his diploma on stage during his graduation from his father, who was then serving as an Associate Dean of the College of Commerce.  

Goode was well-known around DePaul for his commanding presence and jovial personality. Between classes, he valued friendship and camaraderie with friends and colleagues. Following the powerful example set by Father Fitzgerald earlier in his life, Goode strove to serve as a mentor to his students. After an especially brutal exam, he was known to meet up with the “survivors” (as he called them) at a local pub, where he would treat the students to drinks and lively conversation. He was also an avid golfer and sailor, and enjoyed taking students on sailing expeditions from Monroe Harbor.  

No problem too great to solve 

Goode made his mark at a national level. In the 1980s, he would go on to serve in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as the White House Council on Competitiveness. It was a far cry from his humble upbringing in the midst of the Great Depression: a testament, in this way, to Goode’s tireless entrepreneurial spirit.   

Through it all, Goode always held a firm belief in the foundational impact that the DePaul community had on his life and career. He was a prolific donor, giving millions of dollars to the university that had played such a formative role in his life. Such was his esteem for DePaul that instead of having a room named in his honor, he requested that the room be dedicated to his revered mentor, Father Fitzgerald. 

His experiences at the Chicago university cultivated his can-do, entrepreneurial attitude — one of the characteristics that those who knew him best remember as a cornerstone of his legacy. No problem was too great to be solved. As recounted by his son, John Goode, Jr., his attitude was well exemplified in one of his favorite phrases, a question he liked to pose when faced by adversity: “Are you telling me you can’t do it, or you haven’t found a way to do it yet?”