No matter where she worked, no matter what she achieved, Mercedier deFreitas Goodwin, could never seem to escape her first love–teaching.
Mrs. Goodwin, a Chicago public school teacher who would later serve on the Illinois State Board of Education and in several city departments, returned time and again to one of the fundamental principles of teaching: using information to empower people for the long run rather than just looking for a quick fix. Whether teaching kids how to read or minority builders how to win a city contract, Mrs. Goodwin never tired of the role that began in the classroom and followed her into government.
“When she was teaching, she really helped a lot of kids open up their minds to the idea of going to college, which was something many of them thought was outside their realm of possibility,” said her brother, Marcellus Henderson. “She’d get letters and visits from the students years later. Even people she helped bring along in city government stayed in touch.”
Mrs. Goodwin, 78, died in her home at Lake Meadows in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 15. She was the widow of Chicago Civil Service commissioner and former State Rep. Quentin J. Goodwin.
She was born in Chicago and attended public school, graduating from Englewood High. After she graduated in 1944 from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., she came back to Chicago public schools and began substitute teaching. She later became principal at Garfield School in Blue Island and Walker School in Bedford Park. She earned a master’s degree from DePaul University in 1961 and a doctorate of education from Northern Illinois University in 1974. She served on the Illinois State Board of Education from 1974 to 1979.
Mrs. Goodwin was an administrator in the city’s Departments of Employment and Training in the latter half of the 1970s, the Department of Health in the 1980s and the Department of Transportation in the 1990s.
“I’m concerned that the little man, who can help train people and get government funds for it, isn’t aware of how to go about applying for one of our programs,” Mrs. Goodwin told the Tribune in 1975, shortly after she was appointed deputy director of the Chicago Office of Employment and Training.
At the time, Mayor Richard Daley said Mrs. Goodwin was not only the first black person, but also the first woman to hold such a post in a major city.
Mrs. Goodwin later became the assistant commissioner in charge of the Transportation Department’s community services program and remained in that post until her death.
Other survivors include her son, Dr. H. Milano Mellon; another brother; four sisters; and two granddaughters.
Visitation will be from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 to 11 a.m. Thursday at the Griffin Funeral Home, 3232 S. King Drive, Chicago. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday in the funeral home.
