Mark Goodman

IAM member 00126746

Mark passed away in January, after a lengthy illness.

Mark was one of the nicest people you could hope to meet and became a very good friend and colleague to all of us in Stockport Advanced Motorists and was well known and respected by the other local IAM Groups.

Mark joined IAM as a full member during 1978 having passed his test with Manchester Group. Then during 1979 Mark, along with Bob Higginbottom, Dorothy Woodall and others, was keen to start a Stockport IAM Group and so they got together with a number of similar minded people to help form a committee for the new Stockport Group. So, Mark Goodman was one the people involved in the early days, helping to get established what we now know as the group called Stockport Advanced Motorists.

Because Stockport was only a small group in these early days, Mark was involved in many aspects of the Group serving as Chairman, Chief Observer and various other roles and continued to do so over the passing years.

Mark was also one of the key people involved in the running of a skid pan at Hyde Road bus depot which was open to the public, providing many a local driver with a good understanding of skid control and driving in slippery conditions. Unfortunately, however, the skid pan closed in the early 1990's.

Mark had been an Observer for as long as we can remember. With his calmness and innate ability in the car helping many Associates to pass their Advanced Driving Test.

Mark was greatly supported by his wife Janet. They were great supporters of all the monthly meetings and other Group events over all the years of his involvement with IAM. Mark stopped Observing in late 2019 due in his words to "age related afflictions such as forgotten words and being less sharp". He however continued to support the Group up to his recent passing.

Mark was a committed member of the Group from its very beginning and will be greatly missed.

-Ray Lockyer.

Other Members Remember Mark

I was so sorry to hear about Mark.  Mark was an observer when I joined Stockport Group way back in 1992.  He was a really nice person and always gave me good advice.

From Len Calcutt,

I first met Mark when he used to liaise with Manchester Road Safety to run the skid pan, what a gentleman.

From Pete Smithies,

I was so sad to hear of the news that Mark Goodman has died. I remember him as one of the Observers I was assigned for a Sunday Run. He was one of the most kind and patient of tutors selected for me by George Humphries in the days when we did not have the same Observer throughout our Training. My condolences to his Family. 

From Dorothy Oake,

I am very sorry to receive the news about Mark. Mark was a stalwart of Stockport Group for many years and an extremely good man sitting next to you when you were coming up for the test.

From John Anderson,

Mark was also one of the key people involved in the running of a skid pan at Hyde Road bus depot and was my entry point into Stockport Group. My wife bought me a voucher for the skid pan in Dec 1989 and I attended a course in Jan 1990 where I found that it was being run by many Observers from Stockport Group. As I had always wanted to do the Advanced Driving course, I signed up then, started the course and passed my test in March 1990. The rest is history!

-Richard Paddison.