GySgt Dan Goodman Memorial and Family Fund
Donation protected
It is with great regret and sadness we’re setting up this fundraiser for the family of a wonderful man who has left us far too soon.
Daniel Goodman was a brother, friend, mentor, and teacher to so many people. It’s difficult to describe the frag pattern on his passing. It has deeply affected his family and friends, as well as hundreds of Marines and high school students across Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and so many other places where his friends and brothers have settled.
Fifteen years ago, Dan joined the Marine Corps and set himself upon the path of becoming an inveterate and impactful friend, mentor, and brother to so many. A year later, he married Sabrina despite having went to boot camp shortly after they met. Three years later, he graduated from VCU with a master’s degree in teaching and began a career instructing high school students in English. That year was also when he and Sabrina had their first of three children Adam (11), followed by Xavier (9), and then Sloan (4).
His lovely wife tearfully described him as “a good husband, a great father, and just a good man.” Which is a sentiment all of us who knew him share enthusiastically.
So much so, that dozens of Marines have reached out to me asking how they can help. It’s the nature of people, and certainly Marines, to want to assist those who are struggling through this kind of loss. With so few options to help, we wanted to provide this opportunity to give a small blessing as the Goodmans work through such a difficult time.
When I spoke with Sabrina about this gofundme, she suggested she’d most likely use any funds gathered here to pay for the children’s college and help them through school. As you can imagine, her kids are her primary concern, especially now as they try to learn a new normal while mourning.
Please give as much or as little as your heart and wallet allows. We hope to just CRUSH our current goal, but in the end, every little bit helps. And please, as you give, remember the lessons of the poor widow mentioned in Mark 41-44. Simply put the amount one gives is no indication or reflection on their feelings. We all have different circumstances.
With that in mind, while encouraging you to give what you can, I also want to call your attention to another effort we are putting together for the family. We are collecting stories and pictures about Dan. The goal is to compile them into a book, which will allow Sabrina to show the children who he was to all of us (when they are old enough for all of the inappropriate silliness!).
Submitting stories is free, and don’t worry about the quality of your writing or length of the story. I’ve already collected some from one sentence in length up to a full page. I’ll clean up the writing and we’ll compile everything into a “storybook” as best we can. Feel free to submit them as you give here, but if you can’t afford a monetary gift, feel free to submit them to my email: [email redacted]
So far, most of the stories are the antics of Marines, and off color jokes, which is great! Although, we’d also appreciate the more tender moments, those times he helped you, shared in sadness or struggle, and others which show just what a genuinely good man he really was.
Just a quick disclaimer for any IRS vultures… This gofundme and storybook are completely unrelated. 100% of proceeds from this gofundme will be gifted to the Goodman family to help her family as she decides appropriate. The story book is being done by Dan’s friends at our own expense. The above paragraphs are only to help spread the word on another nice thing we can all do for the family.
Dan Goodman was a joy to have around and his presence will be sorely missed by so many. In the end, nothing I write here is good enough to eulogize him, but his legacy will speak for itself in our hearts as we join together in our grief and the coming Celebration of his life.
*** I believe it’s required to let you know who I am on this as well. So here goes: My name is MSgt Raoul P. Sheridan. I’ve known Dan Goodman since 2007 and deployed to both Iraq and Okinawa with him. He was one of my first 6 protégés, and for 12 years I trained him to replace me in every job I had, from Gun Section Chief, to Local Security, up to Battey Gunnery Sergeant at both Hotel Battery and HQ Battery. He was a brother, son, friend, and confidant all rolled into one, and I loved him as I do so many Marines. With his loss, it’s now time for me (and others, like Gunny Comer and 1stSgt Fetherolf) to take care of his family.
Finally, if you’d like to read what some of his students thought of him, you can find that here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/midlothian-va/daniel-goodman-10209513
EDIT: There are no words for how incredible this community is. We did expect to meet the goal, but shattering it within 24 hours was a surprise. Given the level of support for Dan's family so many have shown, we feel it's appropriate to raise our goal. Having no experience with type of fundraising , we don't really know what an appropriate goal is, so we'll start small and go from there.
Simply put, you are all so awesome for helping Sabrina and the children like this.
Thank you all.
Daniel Goodman was a brother, friend, mentor, and teacher to so many people. It’s difficult to describe the frag pattern on his passing. It has deeply affected his family and friends, as well as hundreds of Marines and high school students across Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and so many other places where his friends and brothers have settled.
Fifteen years ago, Dan joined the Marine Corps and set himself upon the path of becoming an inveterate and impactful friend, mentor, and brother to so many. A year later, he married Sabrina despite having went to boot camp shortly after they met. Three years later, he graduated from VCU with a master’s degree in teaching and began a career instructing high school students in English. That year was also when he and Sabrina had their first of three children Adam (11), followed by Xavier (9), and then Sloan (4).
His lovely wife tearfully described him as “a good husband, a great father, and just a good man.” Which is a sentiment all of us who knew him share enthusiastically.
So much so, that dozens of Marines have reached out to me asking how they can help. It’s the nature of people, and certainly Marines, to want to assist those who are struggling through this kind of loss. With so few options to help, we wanted to provide this opportunity to give a small blessing as the Goodmans work through such a difficult time.
When I spoke with Sabrina about this gofundme, she suggested she’d most likely use any funds gathered here to pay for the children’s college and help them through school. As you can imagine, her kids are her primary concern, especially now as they try to learn a new normal while mourning.
Please give as much or as little as your heart and wallet allows. We hope to just CRUSH our current goal, but in the end, every little bit helps. And please, as you give, remember the lessons of the poor widow mentioned in Mark 41-44. Simply put the amount one gives is no indication or reflection on their feelings. We all have different circumstances.
With that in mind, while encouraging you to give what you can, I also want to call your attention to another effort we are putting together for the family. We are collecting stories and pictures about Dan. The goal is to compile them into a book, which will allow Sabrina to show the children who he was to all of us (when they are old enough for all of the inappropriate silliness!).
Submitting stories is free, and don’t worry about the quality of your writing or length of the story. I’ve already collected some from one sentence in length up to a full page. I’ll clean up the writing and we’ll compile everything into a “storybook” as best we can. Feel free to submit them as you give here, but if you can’t afford a monetary gift, feel free to submit them to my email: [email redacted]
So far, most of the stories are the antics of Marines, and off color jokes, which is great! Although, we’d also appreciate the more tender moments, those times he helped you, shared in sadness or struggle, and others which show just what a genuinely good man he really was.
Just a quick disclaimer for any IRS vultures… This gofundme and storybook are completely unrelated. 100% of proceeds from this gofundme will be gifted to the Goodman family to help her family as she decides appropriate. The story book is being done by Dan’s friends at our own expense. The above paragraphs are only to help spread the word on another nice thing we can all do for the family.
Dan Goodman was a joy to have around and his presence will be sorely missed by so many. In the end, nothing I write here is good enough to eulogize him, but his legacy will speak for itself in our hearts as we join together in our grief and the coming Celebration of his life.
*** I believe it’s required to let you know who I am on this as well. So here goes: My name is MSgt Raoul P. Sheridan. I’ve known Dan Goodman since 2007 and deployed to both Iraq and Okinawa with him. He was one of my first 6 protégés, and for 12 years I trained him to replace me in every job I had, from Gun Section Chief, to Local Security, up to Battey Gunnery Sergeant at both Hotel Battery and HQ Battery. He was a brother, son, friend, and confidant all rolled into one, and I loved him as I do so many Marines. With his loss, it’s now time for me (and others, like Gunny Comer and 1stSgt Fetherolf) to take care of his family.
Finally, if you’d like to read what some of his students thought of him, you can find that here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/midlothian-va/daniel-goodman-10209513
EDIT: There are no words for how incredible this community is. We did expect to meet the goal, but shattering it within 24 hours was a surprise. Given the level of support for Dan's family so many have shown, we feel it's appropriate to raise our goal. Having no experience with type of fundraising , we don't really know what an appropriate goal is, so we'll start small and go from there.
Simply put, you are all so awesome for helping Sabrina and the children like this.
Thank you all.
Fundraising team (3)
Raoul P Sheridan
Organizer
Norfolk, VA
Sabrina Goodman
Beneficiary
Lance Comer
Team member