In Loving Memory of Cornelius Goodwin May 24, 1961– June 5, 2025

Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother, Uncle, Mentor, Musician, Tech innovator

If you ever heard Cornelius Goodwin laugh, you didn’t forget it. It would jump out and surprise you and all you could do was join in with him. When telling stories he would often be the most animated person in the room and always had a way of making you laugh. Corny brought passion, unmistakable presence, love and soul to every part of what he did.

Born in New York, Cornelius was locally known for being a unicyclist, having amazing athletic skills in basketball and dodgeball, along with unforgettable musical talent vocally and on the saxophone. He lived with kindness, passion and childlike wonder that never faded and channelled this through his musical performances, coding, and most importantly his family.

In his young adult years he attended Kent State on a music scholarship, but a surprise aptitude test opened the door to computer programming, a field he would find himself in for the rest of his life. When his mother passed away during his first year of university, Cornelius returned home at 19 to support his family. He worked construction by day with his father’s company and studied code at night. A chance encounter led to a job at PaineWebber, solidifying his confidence to begin his journey in computer database programming. That was the start of a long and impactful career, including work at MetLife and IBM, and eventually launching his own consulting firm.

Throughout his career Cornelius was often the only black man in the room—but that never stopped him. He met bias with brilliance, and setbacks with invention. As he once said, “Coding makes you think of things logically—and the problem is, the world isn’t logical.” He would implement his own logic, and often it would work, and if not there was always a “plan B to plan A” and a “plan C to plan B”.

Outside of tech, Cornelius poured his heart into his passions of music by performing with bands like 12/24. He loved Sly and the Family Stone, Weather Report, Return to Forever, Parliament Funkadelic, Steely Dan, Earth Wind & Fire, and Prince, to name a few. He lived with the funk, loved the groove, he always had something playing on the stereo.

He is survived by his children Karsten, Kamren, and Aiden; his grandson Theo; the love of his life — wife Elisabeth Goodwin; His step children Nicole, Elaine, Aimée; his sisters Marietta and Laura; his brother in law Rob; his niece Crystal; his nephews Robbie, Julian and Justin; a large number of cousins and a massive circle of loved ones. He was a connector, a mentor, and a constant. He showed up, stayed late, and gave fully.

“If you believe you can, then you can do anything you put your mind to.”

He showed us what that really looks like.

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