Stu Goodner had it right

So, Stu Goodner died last month; an obituary appeared in last week’s Monitor. His departure was sudden and startling: Doctors discovered an aggressive brain tumor in late March, and Stu had a brief time in Kansas City with his family before passing peacefully at the age of 64.

This was, of course, calamitous for those who loved Stu. But it also marked a major loss for Boulder and Jefferson County. Stu and his wife Lisa came here in 2020. What they did in the five years since was remarkable, and I’d like to try to explain why, what we can learn from their example — and how we might respond to his death.

Stu teemed with ideas. Schemes for fixing up the church, getting more people involved in GOP politics, bringing family-friendly activities to Main Street. “I always joked,” Lisa told me recently, “that being in his mind would be a scary place, because it was constantly in motion.”