Denny Peter Goetz

September 15, 1939 - March 30, 2021 Denny’s story began in Breslau, Germany in the late 1930s. Henry Goetz and his wife, Ilse, who was in the early months of pregnancy, fled Nazi Germany by train and ship to Shanghai, China, the only city that did not require an entrance visa at the time. Denny Goetz was born there in September, 1939 where he lived until the Second World War ended. In 1947 he and his mother traveled by ship and train to Berlin, Germany where they were reunited with Ilse’s brother, Irwin, the only member of her immediate family to survive the Holocaust. Irwin immigrated to the US and soon after Ilse and Denny also left Germany for New York City. Denny was 10 years old and spoke only German, but by years end he was fluent in English, an avid baseball fan and was attending school at P.S. 43, in upper Manhattan. He became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Denny attended City College in Manhattan and graduated in 1963, with a degree in English. In 1963 Denny married Allegra David, who gave birth to their daughter, Juliette, on Christmas day of that year. Their marriage ended shortly thereafter and Denny married Jean Lyman, with whom he had a daughter, Natasha Nora, in 1969. Today Juliette lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband, Michael Vesely. Natasha lives in Manhattan, with her husband Phil Felshman and their son, Griffin, who is a freshman at Oneonta State. Denny had a dual career, working in the travel industry for most of his life (at Eastern Air Lines and eventually at his own successful corporate travel agency, D.P. Goetz, Inc.), while also pursuing his love of writing. He traveled extensively and lived in Spain for 6 months in 1967-8. Whatever else was going on in his life, he continued to write and he eventually published a satirical novel, Father Flanagan Laments, completed a children’s play, “Mitchel’s Big Problem” and began a memoir of his mother, a book of poetry, and other writings. Denny lived in Manhattan most of his life, for over three decades in Greenwich Village, and then on the Upper West Side. He and his partner, Sheran Seif, enjoyed the city together and visited museums and attended concerts and plays, relishing the rich cultural life the city had to offer. Denny’s office was at 40th St and Madison. An avid walker, he often walked to work from their apartment on West End Avenue and 101st Street, feeding the birds along the way. In 2007 Denny and Sheran traveled to Hong Kong to attend the wedding party for Sheran’s son, Dylan and his bride, Vivien Pong. Then with the newly married couple, they flew to Shanghai to visit Denny’s birthplace. It was Denny’s first visit since leaving so many decades before. Many of the old sections of the city had disappeared, but they were delighted to find the neighborhood where Denny resided was mostly intact – even the alley where he lived as a boy. In 2014, their building on West End Avenue was sold and they began to look for a new apartment. While working on the memoir of his mother, Denny had renewed his friendship with Richard Pepperman, a boyhood friend. He and Sheran visited Richard and his wife, Betsy, who lived in Long Branch, NJ. On the train ride from the city, they saw Red Band and were immediately entranced. “Let’s look there” Denny suggested. They moved to Red Bank in 2015, where the flowering trees were in full bloom and the ocean beckoned. They never looked back, falling in love with their new home very quickly, enjoying the outstanding restaurants, theaters and concerts and their renewed friendship with the Peppermans, as well as an expanding list of new friends. They adopted their fourth Main Coon rescue cat, Chauncey, and Denny bought his long wished for red Mini Cooper. They explored the Jersey Shore with great pleasure, often by foot, as well as by car. In February 2018, Denny was diagnosed with ALS. Living with ALS brought many unexpected changes. The most difficult aspect of his illness he said was his total dependence on other in getting through each day and when educating others about ALAS he felt that this is something that needed to be emphasized. Living with this disease requires help from many people and make severe demands upon caretakers. Denny strove to celebrate each day and to find humor and joy wherever he could, and as fully as possible to continue to participate in life as he lived it before. The help of friends (especially their dear friends, the Peppermans) and family, organizations like the ALS chapters and the clinics in New Brunswick and Neptune, and the Joan Dancy Foundation (he couldn’t say enough about how important they became to him), helped make this possible. On September 15, 2020, two dozen friends and family members honored Denny on his 80th birthday with a party at Albarino’s Tapas Restaurant in Red Bank. It was a wonderful celebration and was remembered by him with great joy on all the days that followed. Denny died at home with Sheran and his beloved aide, Maria, by his side, on the afternoon of March 30, 2021. Denny was a gentle, kind and loving man. He took great pleasure in the natural world and believed, along with Anne Frank, that “….nature brings solace in all troubles…”. He was also witty and loved to tell or hear a good story. Most of all he was a man of integrity and moral strength who loved his family and treasured his friends. He loved by all who knew him and he will be missed and his memory is cherished. Memorial services will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Denny’s name be made to the Joan Dancy & Pals foundation online at: Joandancyandpals.org or sent to: Joan Dancy & PALS Foundation, Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center, PO Box 8157, Red Bank, NJ 07701.