Rodger E. Goodling

The Coach loved basketball—the players, the competition, the fellowship with other coaches and referees. He loved coaching—first at Camp Curtin Jr. High in Harrisburg, then 10 years at William Penn of Harrisburg where he had many successful teams. His '69-'70 team went 25-1 and won the PIAA District 3 Championship. His next stop was a 31-year career at Shippensburg University from 1970-2001, where he often joked that he stayed so long that he wore out 2 gym floors! He coached 4 Academic All-Americans, and many of his players went on to become coaches themselves. In 1991 his team won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title, and he was voted the PSAC Coach of the Year. He was the only coach to receive that honor in both the Eastern and Western Divisions (Ship was in the Eastern Division until 1987). He was also selected the Division II Kodak East District Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 1991. One of his proudest possessions was his NABC membership card that proved that he had been a member of that Association for 53 years, having attended about 45 of the Final Four tournaments around the country. Rodger himself played at Wm. Penn High School in York and at what was then York Junior College, where for a while he led the nation in fouling shooting with 92%. He went on to play at Lock Haven University; then he earned his Master's degree from Temple University.
Rodger was very devoted to his family: Sandra, his wife of 42 years. His two sons: Steve (Lisa) of Newport Beach, Ca. and Craig (Roxie) and his son of Naples, Fla. His daughters: Kate Walker (Randy) and her two children of York, Pa., and Abbye Dalton (Marc) and her two children of Atlanta, Ga. Rodger was also very proud of his brother, Warren, of York (also a successful basketball coach), and his sisters Beth Moul (York) and Nancy Knouse (Ellicott City, Md.) both teachers. Rodger is quoted as saying that he was just another teacher, as well, and that his classroom was the gym where he strived to teach values and ethics along with basketball.
"Coaches never die, they just play golf," was a headline in a local paper upon Rodger's retirement in 2001. For Rodger, that was very true—he loved his golfing buddies--and the fellowship, the competition, the stories, the laughs! He had six holes-in-one throughout his golfing days spent at the Carlisle Country Club. For the last 15 years, he and Sandra have spent their winters in Naples, Fla., where he quickly developed friends on the golf course and the bocce court. In addition, he was a NY Yankee fan through and through, with an occasional nod to the Orioles for his brother and sisters! He believed in a lifetime of physical fitness and ran 12 marathons including Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Marine Corp, and the NY Marathon twice.
Rodger was a member of the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, the York College Hall of Fame, and the South Central PA Sports hall of Fame.
Rodger lived life to the fullest until the last several years when he developed Alzheimer's Disease. He died peacefully at home in Carlisle, just shy of his 80th birthday.
A memorial celebration of his life will be held at the Second Presbyterian Church, 528 Garland Drive, Carlisle, Pa. 17013 on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. with the Reverend Dr. Jeffrey W. Gibelius officiating. Private interment will be in the Green Mount Cemetery, York, Pa. at the convenience of the family. There will be a visitation Friday, May 6, 2016 at the church from 9:30 a.m. until time of services.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Rodger Goodling Basketball Scholarship established in 2001, in care of The Shippensburg University Foundation, 500 Newburg Road, Shippensburg, Pa. 17257.
Hoffman Funeral Home & Crematory, 2020 W. Trindle Road, Carlisle, PA is handling the arrangements. To sign the guestbook, please visit www.HoffmanFH.com