Calvin R. Goodale, 100, of Brockton, former cabinet-maker, Navy veteran of World War II, and one of the oldest living veterans of the Greatest Generation in the greater Brockton area, died of a heart attack on May 3, 2025 at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1924, he was the youngest of seven children born to Raymond Goodale, an engineer and Laura Goodale, a homemaker.

Long fascinated by naval operations and officers, Cal fulfilled a youthful dream by joining the Navy at 17 in 1942 after being rejected from the service 10 times on account of his youth and various medical issues.

During World War II, Cal served for two years as a signalman second class aboard the cruiser USS Philadelphia, which conducted anti-submarine operations off the East Coast and escorted convoys in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The Philadelphia bombarded German shore positions during the allied landing at Salerno in September 1943. He also served in the Pacific Theater aboard the cargo ship USS Gordonia, which supplied the U.S. fleet at several bases around Okinawa

True to the old recruiting slogan, Cal saw a lot of the world in the Navy, sailing to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Morocco, Salerno and Naples (where he saw Mount Vesuvius erupt in 1944) in the Atlantic and Mediterranean; and Panama City, the Caroline Islands, Korea, Japan and the Philippines in the Pacific. He sailed to Tokyo to witness the surrender of the Japanese armed forces.

Cal was discharged in 1945 at 21 after his enlistment ended. He earned a total of four gold stars and a presidential citation for his naval service

After the war, Cal spent four years as a commercial fisherman in Alaska before returning to the East Coast to work at the B.F.Goodrich/Hood Rubber Company in Watertown, and the Watertown Arsenal.

Cal then took up cabinetmaking, and worked at various firms, ending his career at Scott & Duncan Co., Inc. in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he served as foreman and union representative before retiring in 1993.

Cal met the woman he called "the love of my life," Shirley Darby Sparks, when she was 17 and babysitting for his brother. They married in 1952 and raised five boys, remaining together for 67 years until her death in 2019. He joked that his long marriage to Shirley "tells you something about her fortitude, character and selflessness."

In retirement, Cal was a devoted golfer, and nearly as devoted a gambler at Foxwoods in Connecticut. He enjoyed family breakfasts with his sons and their families and regular Tuesday night dinners at the Italian Kitchen with his beloved granddaughter, Robyn Goodale, who had promised Shirley she would look after Cal after her passing.

Cal loved a good joke and had a blunt wit that often entertained – and sometimes aggravated – those close to him. His humor did not abandon him in the end. When son Bill told him during his final illness in the hospital that there was nothing more doctors could do for him, he took it philosophically.

"Well, I guess my swan song has been sung," he said.

Cal is survived by four sons and their spouses: Eugene F. Goodale and Cynthia (White) Goodale of Brockton; Thomas E. Goodale and fiancé Darlene Benson of Brockton; David A. Goodale and Beverly (Rawson) Goodale of Arundel, Maine; and William D. Goodale and Tammy (Wertz) Goodale of Middleborough. He is also survived by adopted son Timothy O'Donnell of Northampton and Oahu, Hawaii, and his spouse Kathryn Washburn; 12 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, May 20th from 4:00-7:00 PM in the Russell & Pica Funeral Home, 165 Belmont St., Brockton. Interment will be held the following day on Wednesday, May 21st in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne at 11:30 AM.