25th walk honors founder Bob Goudie
OCEAN CITY — When Bob Goudie was with his wife, Jo Ann, at the University of Pennsylvania hospital 26 years ago, a representative of the ALS Association knocked on their hospital door and asked if there were anything it could do to support Jo. Wheelchair ramp? Oxygen? Computer? Anything.
Bob Goudie turned it around, according to his son, Kevin, and posed a question to the representative. “Do you know the resource that is Ocean City for raising money on the boardwalk? Come meet me and my son and we’ll show you.”
That’s how Kevin remembers the start of the annual Ocean City ALS United Walk. Speaking to the Sentinel on Saturday morning, Sept. 19, before the 25th annual walk, Goudie remembered his father, who died last year, and his mother, who was there to cut the ribbon at the first walk in 2002 but died in 2003 before the second.
On Saturday, it was time to honor Bob Goudie on the 25th anniversary, and to announce the walks had just surpassed raising a cumulative $5 million for the ALS Association.
Kevin said the family formed Jo’s Rowdy Goudies as a fundraising team. Individuals and groups get pledges for the walks to raise money.
Bob Goudie was the caregiver for his wife, not an easy task. “You’re literally buried alive in your own body,” Kevin said.
ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — is a progressive degenerative nerve disease. It affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movements. As it progresses, it makes patients weaker and not able to control their muscles.
The ALS Association funds research into ALS and provides support and care for families and individuals affected by the disease.
Goudie made a point of thanking all the groups — some 45 at Saturday’s walk — the individuals and sponsors including ShopRite.
Brian Roberts is a former pastor of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church who now travels the state as executive director of the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Greater New Jersey to support churches. He met Bob Goudie 42 years ago.
“He was the first person I met when I came down to Ocean City from Princeton Seminary. He was the head of the HR team at St. Peter’s, so I’ve known the Goudie family for over four decades,” Roberts said. Calling Bob Goudie a leader in the community, he said it was natural that when Jo Ann got ALS, the family didn’t say “this is too bad. They said, ‘We’ve got to do something.’ And then they went into action.
“I’ve always supported love and action and making a difference,” he said.
“This is an amazing family. You can see it’s a whole family effort. The cousins always come from Pennsylvania. Everybody gathers to keep this moving forward and to remember,” Roberts said.
Julie McKeever was the ALS Association staff member who started the walk with Goudie. She’s no longer with the foundation, but she remains close with the family.
“When we talked about starting a walk here in Ocean City, you need that one core family to champion the cause,” she said. “It was clear, Bob and his family were the ones to ask.”
McKeever said the association asked Bob if he would be the walk chairman “and he jumped right in. This family’s owned this event from day one and done it every year for every family in the area.”
She still comes to the annual walks. “I’m always supporting Bob, Jo Ann, the whole Goudie family and all ALS patients,” McKeever said. “It’s a very important cause and they’ll never be far from my heart.”
Teams
Among the 45 groups walking to support the ALS foundation was Pop-Pop’s Patriots of Mullica Hill, who surrounded David Shindel.
“It’s always great to have the family support,” Shindel said.
It was the first Ocean City walk for them because “this is our first opportunity.” They recently moved to South Jersey from Colorado.
Kermit Coley and his group, Lou’s Crew, “from all over New Jersey,” were walking on behalf of Annie Louis Coley, his mother.
“I’ve been walking for 25 years. My mom passed away in 1996 and it’s just good to come out and see other people who have gone through the same thing,” Coley said. “It’s also for those who are still suffering; it’s just good to give them advice, when they ask, ‘How did it happen with you?’ It’s good to get together. Until this disease is taken care of and gotten rid of, we’re going to keep walking,” Coley said.
Bill O’Sullivan said his group, Adeline’s Angels, have been coming to the event for 15 years. He said they were walking for his mother, who passed away from ALS in 1996. He also suffers from ALS. “It’s a generational thing,” he said.
From Glen Rock, Pa., with other family from New Jersey, he said they come to the event to support the association and research through it.
Plaque unveiled
Roberts spoke to the crowd before they cut the ribbon. Kevin Goudie unveiled a plaque for his father, Robert L. Goudie, on the beach tag booth marking the walk starting line at Sixth Street and Boardwalk just before marchers made their way down the boardwalk.
Talking about Goudie’s community involvement, Roberts said that is how Bob lived.
“Stay focused. Do your part. Trust your team. He knew: We are stronger together.”
When the family learned of the ALS diagnosis, he said, they could have said, “‘This is awful.’ Instead, Bob and Jo and their family said, ‘We have to do something.’”
That something was the ALS walk in 2002.
“They brought people together. They turned sadness, anger and frustration into action, hope and love. At the first walk, Jo, his wife, cut the ribbon. And we’re still walking,” Roberts said, with millions of dollars raised, teams built, families connected. “You are not alone,” he said to those fighting the disease.
Before the marchers set out, to the sounds of the Ocean City High School Marching Band, Roberts sounded a call and response: “Love in action. We will find a way.”
To donate or learn more, go online to alsmidatlantic.org.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
