Longtime Professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and former Lyon County Commissioner Mark Goodenow passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 2nd at his winter home in Mesa, Arizona at the age of 68.
Mark was a Professor of Business Administration at SMSU for 36 years from 1982 until his retirement in June of 2018.
Mark Goodenow also served as commissioner for Lyon County when he took office in June 1994 after winning a special election which was held to replace Commissioner Daniel Archbold who had resigned in April of that year. Commissioner Goodenow served until 2002. He left the board for two years then ran for election in 2004. He won that election and remained in office from 2005 to 2014.
An email from the office of the President at SMSU said, “Mark touched many lives while at SMSU and will be greatly missed. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”
A small gathering for family and friends will be held on February 17th in Spirit Lake, IA. A larger celebration of his life for family and friends will be held this summer at Mark’s West Lake Okoboji home.
