The measure of a man is in the way he meets life's duties. The truest and noblest men are not necessarily those most constantly in the limelight. More often the lives of the purest patriots and of those who confer the greatest good and exert the best influence upon the community are unheralded by the blare of trumpets nor given even the recognition which their services merit. Even in these days when men's deeds are exploited in the daily press there are modest, retiring men whose devotion to duty and service to their fellow men are proverbial. They may not make the "front page" in the newspapers, but they have the satisfaction of duty well done. Their family and their friends know and accord them the honors earned, while sooner or later the public comes to appreciate them for their true worth. One of the sterling young businessmen of Winchester and an overseas veteran of the World war, John B. Goodrich, belongs to the class mentioned above. As secretary of the Peoples Investment & Guarantee Company, and a private citizen of loyal worth, he is doing his full duty and setting an excellent example. John B. Goodrich was born at Winchester, March 10, 1894, a son of John B. and Charlotte (Martin) Goodrich, also natives of Winchester; and grandson of John B. and Elizabeth (Edger) Goodrich, he born in Virginia and she at Deerfield, Indiana. The maternal grandparents, Elisha B. and Margaret (Doyle) Martin, were horn in Randolph County, Indiana. The father of Mr. Goodrich of this review is a substantial grain merchant of Winchester. Until he was eighteen years old John B. Goodrich, the fourth in direct descent to bear the name in Randolph County, attended the grade and high schools of Winchester, after which he entered Wabash College, and was a student there for a year. Leaving college, he became a salesman, at Indianapolis, for the Ohio-Indiana Stone Company, and had made an excellent start in business when he enlisted, in June, 1917, in the Indiana National Guard. In July he was sworn into the Federal service and assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi. From there he was transferred to Camp Hancock, Georgia, and thence to Camp Stuart, Virginia. On July 12, 1918, he sailed overseas, arriving in France in time to participate in the Saint Mihiel and Meuse Argonne offensives, and was stationed in the Toul sector. In July, 1919, he sailed for the United States, and was honorably discharged that same month as sergeant. Returning to Winchester, he took up farming and was so engaged until 1921, when he became secretary of the Peoples Investment & Guarantee Company, and has continued to hold that office ever since. He is unmarried. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership. He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Columbian Club of Indianapolis, Indiana, the Forty and Eight and the American Legion, and is popular in all of these organizations. Mr. Goodrich is a broad-minded, progressive and able man, and one of those who have helped to make Winchester more prosperous and its people more contented and happy.
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Lora Radiches.