Obituary of Thomas Alphonso Godwin

Thomas Alphonso Godwin, 86, of Denver, Colorado passed away on May 12, 2022. He was born on April 19, 1936 in Pembroke, North Carolina.

At the age of nine, Tom accepted Christ as his Savior and was baptized in the Lumber River in Pembroke.

At eleven, Tom’s family moved to Petersburg, Virginia where they farmed tobacco. Tom graduated from Dinwiddie High School in 1953.

Tom joined the Air Force in 1955, and served until 1959. While stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, Tom married Marlene Johnson in 1956 and divorced in 1968. They had four children together: Timothy, Kimberly, Todd and Tyron.

Tom joined Martin Marietta in 1959 and worked with the Air Force as an Instruction Writer, Field Service Rep and Small Programs Manager for Shuttle Payload Integration including work on the Titan missile program. His talents were recognized in 1982, winning the Gold Medallion for significant service to the Space Flight Programs.

Tom designed and built the “Little Red Schoolhouse” satellite training system. The Commander of Space and Missile System Organization lauded this as “the greatest piece of aerospace public relations I’ve ever seen.”

Tom was always proud to be a registered Lumbee Indian often returning home to Pembroke for Lumbee Homecoming festivities and visiting childhood friends. Tom was a key player in forming the American Indian Chamber, followed by the Minority and Women’s Chamber Coalition.

As a man of faith, Tom enjoyed driving a school bus transporting church members to East Side Baptist Church for Sunday services.

Tom married Ruth Ills in November, 1970, adopting two children; Lisa and Chad.

Tom’s career was marked by entrepreneurship owning a Baskin Robbins ice cream store in the ‘60’s, starting his own consulting firm—Complexity Simplified, and owning a windows and siding business with two of his sons.

Tom’s greatest passion was the Denver Broncos as a season ticket holder starting in 1961. In his retirement, he worked as an usher for the Broncos. While working for them, Tom won an all-expense paid trip to Super Bowl XLVIII in New York City.

Tom is survived by; his wife Ruth, siblings Angus Godwin and Nova Lockee, children Tim Godwin (Dawn), Kim Jefferson (Marc), Todd Godwin (Song), Tyron Godwin (Phronsie) Lisa Godwin Lohmann, Chad Godwin grandchildren; Adrie, Nikki, Rachel, Jesse, Maya (Marco), Shelby, Keenan, Austin, Eric, Amber, Tate, Izabella and great grandson Andrew. Tom was preceded in death by his granddaughter Alana, his parents, and siblings Marie, “Junior,” and Claire.

Services for Tom will be held at Brave Church on July 30, 2022 at 11AM at 3800 E Hampden Ave, Englewood, CO 80113.