James Cleveland Goode was born August 21, 1944 in McKinney, Texas to James Haskell & Helen Marie (Russell) Goode. He left this earth to be with his Heavenly Father on November 23, 2020 after a long illness with Frontotemporal Dementia.
James was an educator graduating from McKinney High School in 1962. He received his Bachelors Degree in Biology and 2 Masters Degrees from Texas A & M Commerce, one in Education & one in Biology and a PhD from LSU in Education Administration. He was a wonderful teacher & football/weightlifting coach at a number of schools & loved his students as much as they loved him. He was on the coaching staff of the Garland High School Owls football team when they won the State Championship in 1999. Very involved in establishing driver education programs in many high schools statewide for almost 20 years, he was named Texas Teacher of the Year in 1987 by the American Driver & Safety Assn. He was also a contributing author for the textbook still used in training today.
James was a musician. In the 1960’s, James & his brother, Danny, along with two friends, Roger Bennett and Gibson Harris, formed The Excels. They were very popular locally and their song “Lets Dance” is recorded even today by young rock groups in the U.K. James and the other members of Excels were inducted into the Rock-a-Billy Hall of fame in 2000. Later he wrote all the songs & played bass on two self-produced blues albums. The first was named “Mill Block Blues” after his hometown, McKinney. The second, named “That’s When The Blues Begins” was very well received in the blues community earning him a nomination for Blues Song of the Year at the Blues Music Awards in 2000 for the song “That’s When The Blues Begins”.
James was a wonderful husband. He married Rhonda Kay Balch on July 2, 1977 in McKinney, Texas. They had a loving and adventurous life together until James became ill. From hot air ballooning in Arizona, zip lining in Jamaica, & swimming with dolphins in the Caymans, together they enjoyed life to the fullest. During their marriage, the renewed their vows 3 times, with “Elvis” officiating at 25 years, on a cruise by the ship’s captain at 30 years & back at the original location of their marriage, Waddell Street Baptist Church (with their grandchildren acting as their attendants) at 35 years. They were planning another renewal at 40 years before James’s illness. Throughout their 43 years, they were blessed!
And foremost in his life, James was a Christian. A member of Community North Baptist Church in McKinney, he was faithful and walked the path of life on this earth with the Lord by his side.
James was preceded in death by his parents and Father-in-law & Mother-in-law, Bob & Bettye Balch.
James is survived by his loving & devoted wife, Kay; brother, Danny Goode & wife, Dana; brother-in-law, Scott Balch & wife, Penny; daughter, Robbie (John) & son; Corey (Stacy); 5 grandchildren, Emma, Hannah, Jackson, Marissa & Conner; nephews & nieces, Brandon, Hannah, Haley, Billy Wayne (Heather), Brian, Dana (Dax), & Denise (Matt), Skylar & Sage. He will be missed by his wife & family, the students he taught & coached, and the many close friends he made in his lifetime.
A special thank you to Amity Hospice (Tammy, Elyse, Katie, Angelica, & Chaplain Blaine), Serein Residential Home (Viviene, Mary, Grace, Esther & Elsie), Villagio Memory Care (Becca & Rendi), Terri, his critical care nurse at the time of his death & Brad Riley. You all guided me in the right directions with James’s care and were there when I needed you. You all will never know how much you were appreciated.
In support of our local, state, and federal govt including CDC directives and to protect the physical health, safety and well-being of our community, only a limited number of guests will be allowed to attend the Memorial Service.
A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 5, 2020 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. The service will also be live streamed at TJMfuneral.com on James’s obituary page by clicking on the following link: Celebrationoflife.tv. After the service, the recorded live stream will be available for viewing at the same link location.
However, when the maximum number of guests are reached, those who would like to honor James and show their support to his family may remain at the funeral home in your vehicle, where you can watch the live streamed service on your personal device (laptop, tablet or smartphone) or listen through a designated FM radio channel.
CELEBRATIONOFLIFE.TV livestream https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/james-cleveland-goode