‘Happy-go-lucky’ UNH student remembered after COVID death

In baseball, Joshua Goodart played multiple positions.

Childhood friend Noah Shirling said Goodart could play in the outfield as well as catcher.

To those who knew him best, Goodart was remembered in his life much like how he was as a baseball player: fitting seamlessly into a group, in any position.

Goodart, a 22-year-old Oxford resident and University of New Haven senior, died last weekend from complications stemming from COVID-19.

“Our neighborhood was really like one big, extended family,” said Heidi Chelednik, a neighbor to the Goodart family for 18 years.

Chelednik, who has two sons around Goodart’s age, estimated there were about 22 neighborhood children around that age, and Goodart was a beloved and essential part of the neighborhood.

“He was this happy-go-lucky kid, very joyful. He had a wonderful smile, a real impact to his laugh, he just loved trying new things. He was kind of a daredevil who loved sports and music,” she said.

Beyond his neighborhood, Goodart also was known for being part of a close group of five friends in his high school, including Shirling.

Shirling said Goodart “always lived in the moment” and was known for being spontaneous.

Friend Josh Sevell recalled going to a Billy Joel concert with Goodart and singing along to every song — despite knowing barely any lyrics.

“We were probably mumbling half the time,” he said. “It’s a good memory now.”

When friend Chris Cowell returned to Oxford from Virginia, he said he had one of his favorite memories with Goodart: the group got together on a whim and drove to a swimming pool while blasting music, which they captured on video.

Shirling said he adopted his German shepherd mix as a puppy during a trip with Goodart to Virginia to visit Cowell, another positive memory of Goodart he said has stayed with him.

“I’d like to think he was mostly a big teddy bear,” said friend Alex Bowersox. “If you gave him a hug, he would take it.”

Shirling said his first impression of Goodart in grade school was as a “tall, awkward kid,” something he gravitated toward, recalling his own shyness and introversion.

“I knew him as the awkward, happy-go-lucky friend of mine,” he said.

Shirling said Goodart was not one to stand out in a crowd, but he was beloved in groups and teams for his good-natured, quiet humor.

“The little comments we would make would get us every time,” he said. “We made fun of each other more than anybody else.”

Sevell said Goodart was a great friend in both groups and one-onone, because he put others first.

“He was the best of both worlds,” he said.

Shirling said Goodart also had a passion for music, although he was tight-lipped about it. He played guitar and some piano, he said, and the group of friends could sometimes hear him play during group hangouts over Xbox.

“It was good. He was passionate

about doing it, but not passionate about talking about it or expressing it,” he said.

James Krochko, who grew up on sports teams with Goodart, said Goodart always was among the funniest one in the locker room and didn’t take himself too seriously.

“He was hilarious — easy to joke around with, could take a joke and give one back just as easy. We got close, especially during freshman football. He was one of the funniest guys I knew in the locker room,” he said.

A GoFundMe set up to support Goodart’s family had raised over $22,000 by Wednesday afternoon.

According to that page, Goodart was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in January, and as his symptoms grew worse he was admitted to Bridgeport Hospital. When his symptoms worsened, he was placed on a ventilator. Later, when his symptoms worsened more, he was transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital where he required dialysis for kidney failure. On Feb. 6, his parents received a call that Goodart would not make it through the night.

Goodart was in his final semester at UNH, where he was a cybersecurity and networks major. Liberty Page, Goodart’s academic adviser and professor, said the university’s cybersecurity department places a strong emphasis on newly admitted students to be sure they are pursuing the field in an effort to help people.

“It’s an important part of being a cybersecurity person: a desire to protect and do good,” she said. “And that’s the kind of kid Josh was, and he’ll be missed.”

Page said the loss was difficult for students and faculty in the small academic program.

“This young man was incredibly skilled. Everyone around him was just so fond of him,” she said.

A university spokeswoman said the campus went to a remote model between Thanksgiving and the spring 2021 semester — the break period during which Goodart tested positive for the virus. The university said Goodart was working on an internship remotely at the time he fell ill.

“Based on our COVID Task Force records, we do not believe Joshua acquired COVID while on our campus. In addition, it is my understanding that he had not returned to campus this semester,” said Summer Johnson McGee, the university’s COVID-19 coordinator, in a statement. “To date, the university has no evidence that COVID-19 transmission has happened on our campus in the classroom or other physically distant settings where masks are worn.”

Chelednik said she has been in touch with Goodart’s parents, who said they “absolutely loved Josh more than anything in the world along with his brother, and they will forever miss him and hold him dear in their hearts.”

She said the Goodart family also hopes to communicate the seriousness of COVID-19.

“Josh was very careful. He didn’t go to a lot of parties, yet he still contracted the virus,” she said. “Nobody should take it for granted.”

UNH said in a news release it is offering grief counseling services to students. Goodart will receive a posthumous degree at the university’s spring commencement ceremony, the university said.

The university’s Undergraduate Student Government Association will hold a candlelight vigil Friday by the Beckerman Recreation Center on campus, according to the university.

Contributed photo Joshua Goodart