J. Godshall Obituary

J. Arden Godshall died on October 3, 2024, from pancreatic cancer. Arden was born on September 19,1935, the third of six sons of Willard and Esther Moyer Godshall. As a child and young teen, his family lived on a farm in Quakertown, before moving to Souderton, Pennsylvania, a large and close-knit Mennonite community. In 1954, he married Evelyn Alderfer, and they began their remarkable journey around the United States and the world. In 1956, while performing voluntary service as a conscientious objector in New Hampshire, they welcomed the first of their four children, Deena. Kim Loren was born two years later during a brief sojourn in Pennsylvania.

Arden then became a volunteer pastor, tasked with starting a Mennonite church in a small village in Vermont. In order to support his growing family, Arden began working as a water well driller in the granite hills and mountains of Vermont. During this time, Rikki was born in neighboring New Hampshire.

Arden decided that he wanted to become an ordained minister in the Mennonite church. Because he dropped out of school long before completing high school, as was the practice in his community, he needed first to go to college. In 1962, the Godshall family moved to Goshen, Indiana, where Arden attended Goshen College, and Deryl was born the following year. In 1967, the Mennonite mission organization contacted Arden. They were looking for a well driller to go to India to drill water wells in hard rock. Arden had just completed his first year of seminary, but he and Evelyn decided they would commit to going to India as volunteers for three years. In December, having never been farther afield than the Midwest, they flew to India with their children, aged 11, 9, 6 and 4.

Arden traveled all over India, which was in a severe drought at the time. He spent much time in remote villages, where women and children walked for miles to obtain water for their daily needs. Once he completed a well and hooked up a pump which gushed fresh water, the joy and thankfulness of those villagers was the ultimate reward. He spearheaded importing into India the Ingersoll Rand rig that he had used in Vermont. He established a company to employ and train Indians to operate and maintain the rigs, to go out and drill wells and to run this new business. UNICEF noticed his success and began to work with the Indian government to import more of the rigs for use all across India.

UNICEF approached Arden with a job offer to run this expanded effort. When he completed his 3-year commitment as a volunteer, he worked for UNICEF for two more years. An Englishman Arden worked with in India sent an email to Arden several days before he died, saying in part that his "contribution to the India water program was immense...No one else had your knowledge and experience of water well drilling with this...technology." The drilling success of this huge UNICEF program "...convinced the government that hard rock drilling was a viable solution to the country's water scarcity problems...you and your family can be enormously proud of your role in India's development and ultimate self-sufficiency in drilled well technology."

Shortly after leaving India, Arden accepted a job with Ingersoll-Rand and the family moved to Beirut, Lebanon. Arden's job was to set up an operation in Yemen similar to what he had begun in India. Unfortunately, the civil war in Lebanon cut short that assignment and the effort was ended after two years. Arden spent several more decades working as a salesman for Ingersoll-Rand in West Virginia, Ohio, England, and finally Washington. In Washington, his sales territory was the Northwest and Alaska. He also continued to travel overseas for the company, to England, Italy, India, Yemen, China, South Africa and other countries.

Arden loved everything about living in Washington. He became an avid golfer in retirement and resisted moving "back East" because he would not be able to golf 10 months of the year. He loved to go salmon fishing on the Columbia River with his cousin. He would only drink Oregon and Washington wines and ordered oysters regularly from Oysterville, Washington. He pursued his lifelong passion and enormous talent for music by singing in his church choir and the "Touch of Class" choir. He loved his community at Columbia Presbyterian Church, and the staff and other volunteers at Peacehealth Hospital where he volunteered after Ev died. Until his death, Arden maintained regular contact with friends he made in all the places he ever lived or worked.

Arden did not leave many instructions regarding the aftermath of his death. He was emphatic that he did not want a funeral or memorial service. He did write that if anyone wanted to know how he wished to be remembered, this was the message: "My goal was to walk daily with God and use my talents and gifts to the honor and Glory of God. I endeavored to be a positive influence on everyone I met. I wish for my family and friends to know that I do not fear death itself. I think it is not the end, but a new beginning for me."

Arden is survived by his children, Deena Godshall Roth, Rikki (Lynn) Godshall, and Deryl (Andrea) Godshall, and eight grandchildren: Keegan and Carraig Roth, Domenic Godshall, Melina and Brynn Godshall, D'Ari, Amaya and Linden Godshall, and a brother, Rodney Godshall. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Evelyn Alderfer Godshall and son, Kim Loren Godshall.

In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation in Arden's name to Mennonite Central Committee, mcc.org/what-we-do/initiatives.