James Henry Goodart was born on May 23,1930 in Plankinton, South Dakota. He died on Dec. 24, 2023 at the age of 93. He passed away under the care of the loving staff of Clarkson Health Care.

Jim is survived by his brother, Charles (Peggy) Goodart; his sister, MaryAnn Ehlers and his sons Dan(Madonna) and Chuck (Julie) Goodart. Jim had six grandchildren: Jessica Goodart Johnson, Nicholas, Adam and Aaron Goodart (Dan and Madonna's children) and Chris and Neill Goodart (Chuck's children). He had six great grandchildren – Kahne, Emalyn, and Laylah (Chris and Jessica's children) Meadow and Starr (Neill and Shana's children) and Taylor (Nicholas' child). He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

As a young child Jim and his family moved to Hill City, SD. He attended elementary school and high school there, graduating from Hill City High school in May ,1948. After high school, he attended two years of college at SDSM&T in Rapid City, He finished his college education at Southern State Teachers College with a BS in education in Springfield, Ill. He married Joan Snyder on August 23, 1953. Joan passed away in October of 2015.

Jim served in the US Army for three years during the Korean war. He was attached to the 47th division from Minnesota.

When he completed his college education, Jim began his career as a customer engineer for IBM in 1957. Jim and Joan got to travel during his IBM years when he was sent to different schools in the US. He retired from IBM 35 years later, and then worked at Ace hardware for 18 years. During this time, Jim continued his life long love of woodworking. He made many pieces of beautiful furniture.

After Joan died, Jim stayed in his home for a few years. He then transitioned to senior living, assisted living and finally long term care. His last two years were spent at Clarkson Health Care. Up until six months ago, he was still trying to convince Dan and Chuck that he needed to buy another car, get his drivers license renewed and move back to the cabin in Hill City that he spent his high school years in. He didn't believe them when they told him that it had no heat, water and the floors and roof were caving in.

Jim did not take kindly to being managed. Parkinson's took away his mobility and speech. It became more difficult to understand him-his voice was reduced to a whisper. When he could no longer use his cell phone, he blamed the phone. When he could no longer maneuver the wheel chair, he demanded a new chair-it was the chairs fault. When he began having difficulty seeing, it was the eyeglasses that were the problem. After multiple trips to the eye doctor and new glasses –it was not his eyes that were the issue. One of the last visits he had with Madonna, his last comments were about the wheelchair not working right. After that, Jim decided that he'd had enough and it was time to go. A week later in the early hours of Christmas Eve day, he did.

There will be visitation from 10:00 am to noon on Saturday, December 30, at Osheim & Schmidt in Rapid City. There will be graveside services with military honors at 3:00 pm at the Hill City Cemetery on the same day. Pallbearers will be Nicholas, Neill and Aaron Goodart, Tim Curns, and Rick and Rodney Shafer.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to a charity of your choice.