In Loving Memory of Lydie ( aka Marianne ) Goodman  
  Belgian stage actress, NYC hair fashion model, author of
  several published children’s stories, plus my wonderful 
  wife and “very best friend” for 47 blessed years. 

  Lydie Jeanne Verstraete was born in a small Belgian town called 
  Etterbeek on August 26th, 1922. She had one sister name Jacqueline 
  that was two years younger than her, and a childhood friend name 
  Josane who was three years younger than Jackie. Lydie and Jackie 
  spent most of their growing up years in a Convent. Lydie studied 
  stenography and upon leaving the convent, she applied for a job 
  as an airline hostess, but changed her mind in favor of becoming 
  an actress. During her 1st audition, she had to throw a shoe in
  the air which got stuck on a ceiling beam. She improvised, got the
  part, adopted the stage name of “Marianne Sinclair” and appeared 
  in dozens of plays with Belgium's National Theater plus “Theatre 
  in the Park”. Her popularity continued to blossom and her three 
  best known stage performances were "The Cat and the Canary”, 
  “The Voice of the Turtle” and “Orchids for Miss Blandish”. 


Many years passed and Marianne visited the United States in 1964. A waitress she had known 
in Belgium was auditioning for a part in a NYC off Broadway play. The friend asked Marianne 
to read lines with her on stage. Everyone that participated in that audition had to provide 
the theater with a head photo. I was a NY hair fashion photographer at the time, and as fate 
would have it, someone recommended me .. and that is how we met.

Marianne came to see me on June 4th, 1964 and I fell in love with her during that interview. 
We dated and got married 6 months later on Dec 14th. We loved our Manhattan studio apartment 
on East 60th street. She would usually walk me to & from work, holding hands, 15 minutes each 
way. Marianne posed in many of my photographic sessions and her beautiful pictures appeared 
in beauty salon newspaper ads ~ plus hair trend magazines all throughout the United States. 
This stunning color print of Marianne, that was taken in the 60's, was one of those photos. 
It was and still is everyone’s favorite color photograph of her.

I changed careers once shortly after we were married. We moved to Texas in 1988 when JCPenney 
relocated its corporate headquarters to Dallas, and I retired in 1995 so we could be together 
as much as possible. Marianne truly enjoyed being with people .. and she would always own the 
room wherever she went. As most of you know, whenever friends would dine with us, she would 
not eat a bite unless they ate too. She was a wonderful listener. She smiled with her eyes, 
held hands, hugged and kissed everyone, including strangers, was a lady at all times, never 
vulgar, and was truly loved by all. 

Anytime someone did something that Marianne liked, she’d say, “You’re so good to me”. When 
someone did something that she didn’t like, she said nothing. Marianne gently hit me every 
Friday night and she told on-lookers, “I don’t know why I hit him, but he knows”. And whenever 
I would say something silly, she said I had the mentality of a fern. She loved colorful vests 
and at one time owned 72 of them. She always looked 'tres chic'. Her favorite actor was Cary 
Grant, her favorite actresses were Audrey Hepburn, young Judy Garland and finally Shirley 
Temple. Her favorite singers were Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. 

Marianne and I were “romantic soul mates”. We both enjoyed the exact same things including 
easy listening music and old musical movies. She had a wonderful sense of humor and when she 
said “no”, she really meant it. You could look at her expression and always know exactly what 
she was thinking. At one of Mike Machida’s annual Christmas parties, he purchased and neatly 
arranged several dozen nicely wrapped gifts around his white baby grand piano. Mike then asked 
Marianne to select the 1st gift. She looked around, smiled and said, “I’ll take the piano”. 

Marianne’s pet name for me and mine for her was 'duecie'. I believe it means 'sweet'. We rarely 
called each other by our real names. In later years, she always took her little stuffed tiger 
named 'pusskiss' every place we went, including 4-hour car rides, feeding ducks and horses, plus 
visiting friends. Pusskiss even went with us to the restaurants where he’d sit on the table right
next to Marianne. Everyone petted him and we’d tell people sitting at nearby tables that the 
little tiger was a vegetarian, so they were perfectly safe. 

Marianne was a kind, gentle, passionate giver. She always put other people’s needs ahead of her 
own and never craved material things. She constantly told me that she loved me and just wanted 
to hold my hand. Then she would smile, sandwich my hand between both of her hands and kiss me. 
What a wonderful, comforting, reassuring feeling that was for me to experience and for others 
to witness. ( sigh ) 

Marianne and I were the 'best-of-friends' and we did everything together. She touched the lives 
of so many people and with each, it was always lasting love at first sight. She was a wonderful 
role model and she leaves behind a huge footprint. I thank GOD for having blessed us with '47' 
wonderful years of marriage. Marianne was blessed with good health plus natural beauty and 
independence for 89 years. In her final year, she prayed for mercy after her fall, and GOD 
answered her prayer on Sept 13th, 2011. I know Marianne is at peace now with her mother and 
her sister, but I feel that she is also my guardian Angel watching over me 24/7.

I loved Marianne with all my heart, I will always be in love with her, and when it’s my time, 
I pray GOD will reunite me with my best friend for eternity so we can continue holding hands.                                                                                                                                                                                                
This Eulogy was written for Marianne's funeral/cremation service held on December 3rd, 2011.

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