Earl Llewellyn Goldmann

EARL LLEWELLYN GOLDMANN

December 23, 1934 – July 17, 2026

Earl Llewellyn Goldmann, a retired teacher, coach, and published author, passed away in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday night July 17th, 2026, from complications of a fall he endured five weeks earlier. He was 91.

Earl was born on December 23, 1934, in Tillamook, Oregon. A place that never left his heart. A three-sport athlete in basketball, football, and baseball, he graduated from Tillamook High School in 1953 as one of the school’s all-time outstanding athletes. He went on to play college level sports earning scholarships for baseball and basketball to Oregon State University upon graduation in 1953.

Due to a horrendous car accident in his second year at OSU, his dreams were derailed. He survived, bounced back, and went on to earn both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in Education from Portland State University.

Earl taught Civics and American History for 28 years in the Portland area, most notably at Canby High School where he has stayed in touch with many of his former students long after they left the classroom. He coached both men’s and women’s sports and is remembered fondly as the “guy who started the women’s golf team..” In 1981, his boys’ basketball team, with his son Eric on the roster, made the state tournament.

As an avid golfer, Earl scored two holes-in-one on two occasions, fifty years apart: one was at Alderbrook in Tillamook, and the other at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale. He played golf until age 80, then traded his clubs for a pen.

He published his first book. Bounce Back, at age 82 and the second, Intestinal Fortitude, at age 86. His third book, Tillamook: it’s not just about the cheese will be completed by his wife Patricia and released at the end of the year, just shy of what would have been his 92nd birthday.

Earl’s wife Patricia of 25 years, survives him with memories of their writing, reading, attending movies, politics they agreed on, and the cultural vibe of Old Town Scottsdale.

He is also survived by his son Eric, daughter-in-law Sherri and grandchildren, Sofia and Jordan who reside in Encinitas, California; his daughter Anne and her wife Suzanne Lady, of Lake Oswego, Oregon; his sister-in-law Judy Goldmann of Hillsboro, Oregon; and many friends, former students, nieces, nephews, cousins, fellow writers, and his wife’s family.

At Earl’s request, no services will be held in Arizona. This fall, his wife Patricia will carry his ashes to the mouth of the Wilson River near Tillamook and scatter them westward to the Pacific Ocean, with a luncheon and a short program to follow in the Tillamook area.

Donations in Earl’s honor can be made to the Tillamook High School Athletic Department, 2605 12th Street, Tillamook, Oregon, 97141, attention Kyle Johnson.