Blanche F. Goodchild

Blanche F. Goodchild, 87, died Saturday, January 5, 2008 at MeadowView Terrace in Clarksville. Ms. Goodchild was born in New York City. She was the wife of the late Ted Goodchild; and the daughter of the late Joseph Madura and Anna Gurda Madura of Goshen, New York, where she grew up. Ms. Goodchild was a graduate of Seward Institute in Florida, NY. In 1941 she graduated from Martland Medical Center in Newark, NJ. She did ambulance duty at the center after graduation before entering the Navy Nurse Corps in 1942, as an Ensign. Ms. Goodchild was stationed at the U.S. Navel Hospital in Sampson, NY and was assigned to the Chief Nurse?s Office. In 1944 she was promoted to Lieutenant j.g. and transferred to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, U.S. Navy Department in Washington, D.C. where she was in charge of out-patient Navy personnel. In 1946 she was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant s.g.. Her nursing experience also included staff duty at Hartford?s Mt. Sinai Hospital in 1947, private duty nursing at Manchester Memorial Hospital in 1951, Charge Nurse and Assistant Supervisor at the Institute of Living, a private Psychiatric Hospital, from 1951 to 1953. She was Director of Nurses at East Hartford Hospital from 1954 to 1956; and was charge nurse of the medical floor at St. Mary?s Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida from 1956 to 1958. From 1958 until 1961 she was associated with her husband in his business, The Manchester Realty Company ? Insurance and Real Estate, as a Real Estate Agent. On January 26, 1962, she was appointed Director of Nurses at Crestfield Convalescent Hospital and remained there until her retirement in 1982. After retirement from nursing, Ms. Goodchild came to live in Hobe Sound, Florida with her husband Ted in 1982, settling in Cambridge Estates. She is survived by a step-daughter, Carol Sutton, of Juno Beach, Florida; step-grandson, Jeffrey Sutton, of Falls Church, VA; step-granddaughter, Kelly Harris, two step-great grandsons, William and Philip Harris of New York City, brother, Daniel Madura of Goshen, New York; sisters, Victoria Anisky of Albany, New York and Dorothy Deignan of West Orange, New Jersey, and many nieces and nephews. A mass will be said by Father Silvio Kaberia and Deacon John Sadowski, 10AM Friday at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church. Burial will be at Bushnell National Cemetery in Florida. Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home is serving the Goodchild family.