Overcoming his fears

Former civil-rights era cop finds peace among the bears of the Bob Marshall Wilderness

By HEIDI DESCH / Hungry Horse News

Andrew Goodwin knows something about perseverance. Whether it has been against outside forces or his own fears, he has been able to overcome life's obstacles to help others.

Goodwin, 68, worked as a police officer in the South during the height of racial tension in the 1960s. Then later in life he became a minister and came to Montana despite a fear of grizzlies.

"If we have fears, we need to face them," he said simply during a recent interview.

Today, he lives in Hungry Horse with his wife, Wonna, and leads a Bible study at North Valley Baptist Church in Columbia Falls. Previously he worked around the Flathead Valley starting churches.

His earliest challenge came while working as a green police officer in Centerville, Ala. The year was 1965 and the South was in turmoil as protesters fought to give African Americans the right to vote. Martin Luther King, Jr., would eventually lead three now-famous marches from nearby Selma to Montgomery for the cause.

Goodwin had joined the force in an effort to "bring law and order." That effort proved more difficult than he thought.

"I had a lot of anger at the change taking place — not in the change, but in the way (protesters' were going about it," he said.

Protesters who incited violent riots were often hired from outside the area, he said. Residents of the area mostly remained peaceful in their demonstrations or were fearful of even participating.

The events were an awakening for the young Goodwin. Having grown up in Bib County, Ala., the son of farmers, he knew little of interracial tension before adulthood. He remembers blacks and whites working and living together. Goodwin's perspective set him apart from some of the other police officers.

"I wasn't popular (as an officer) because I didn't see any color," he recalled. "I didn't think because of a person's position in government or the community they shouldn't get charged for their crimes."

Goodwin continued with the police force until 1970, but towards the end of his career he became disenfranchised with some of the things going on around him. It was at this time that he began to think of his own safety as an officer.

On Aug. 3, 1970 he gave his heart to the Lord. After leaving the force he would go onto attend Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tenn.

"Since I became a Christian I set out to make a difference in the world," he said. "I never regretted the time I spent as a police officer. It prepared me for being a minister."

After seminary, Goodwin headed to Colestrip in 1976 to start a Baptist Church. This is where he would face his next challenge as he moved to a state with grizzly bears. Books and movies had given him an irrational, ill-informed fear of bears.

Not one to hide from fear, Goodwin began educating himself on bear behavior and backcountry recreating. Goodwin says he took much advice from George Ostrom, local hiker and Hungry Horse News columnist. Then he took the knowledge and applied it as he hiked and hunted in bear country.

"I wasn't going to live my life afraid of hiking in the woods that I love," he said.

Further pushing past his fears, Goodwin started Hands Up Ministry on Horseback. The program teaches at-risk youth to ride horse on trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It was there that he has encountered the bear he once feared.

The Goodwins had four children, one of whom has since passed away. Today they have adopted four of their grandchildren and are raising them. They also have seven other grandchildren.

Looking back, Goodwin seems to have done some rewarding things in his life. "I've tried," he says.