Ray Goodman, known in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia as the man who dressed up as Abraham Lincoln and who was a public advocate for nutrition, healthy diet and lifestyle and alternative medicine, has died at age 88.
Goodman was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in Annapolis, Maryland, in Florida, and for the past twenty years or so in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
He is survived by his daughter Leslie Desmond of Bluemont, Virginia.
Another daughter, Nicole James, died in a car accident in Florida about nine years ago, Desmond said.
A celebration of Goodman’s life is being planned for sometime in the spring in Berkeley Springs.
Goodman dressed up as Lincoln to get into conversations with people about how to live a healthy life.
“He loved people and talking with people,” Desmond said. “And he knew about the healing properties of minerals in the water, about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.”
“There are a whole lot of sick people out there and I just have to help them,” Goodman would say. “Lincoln helped free the slaves and I am trying to free people of their illness.”
Goodman would visit the Fairfax Coffee House in Berkeley Springs almost every day.
“Always there was a smile on his face, always a kind word, always a hug, always asking – what can I do for you?” said Trey Johanson of the Fairfax Coffee House.