Popular retired Corbin police officer, Larry Goodin, dies at age 67

Larry Goodin

Former Assistant Corbin Police Chief Larry Goodin is being remembered this week as a quiet, dedicated servant who served in an often-tough profession with class and dignity.

Goodin, 67, died Saturday roughly 16 years after he served his last shift with the Corbin Police Department, where he served nearly his entire career.

Officially, he started his career in public service as a firefighter for the City of Corbin in 1976. After a year, he transferred to the police department.

“What I remember most about Larry is that everybody liked him,” said Steve Lundy, a retired 29-year veteran of the department who took over as Assistant Chief after Goodin’s retirement in 2002.

“The public liked him. The other officers liked him. He just had a great personality,” Lundy added. “I don’t think you will find anyone that was an enemy of Larry’s.”

While serving as an officer, Goodin actually founded and co-owned Professional Medical Transport — an ambulance service with its base at the corner of 19th and Main Street — with former Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins. The two were close friends. Mullins retired after 22 and a half years as chief, many of those alongside Goodin.

“When they owned that ambulance service, things were sort of in turmoil,” said Bob O’Neill, a former Corbin Police Officer who started in 1983 and retired ranked as a Major. “It was a real blessing to the county and the city because it was hard to get an ambulance sometimes.”

“I remember, they would leave one job to go to the other at their ambulance service,” O’Neill added. “They worked hard. I had a lot of respect for Larry for doing that.”
O’Neill characterized Goodin as unflappably levelheaded and mild.

“He adapted to the situation at hand really well,” O’Neill said. “He knew how to adjust when he needed to. If you were being a thug, then you got treated like a thug … but he always treated everybody good until push really came to shove.”

Lundy said Goodin was masterful at dealing with the general public when a calming influence was needed.

“It really takes both kinds of officers to do policing sometimes,” he said. “You’ve got to have people who can really deal with the public. People just naturally liked him because he wasn’t aggressive and he knew how to talk to people.”

“You wish everybody liked all police officers as much as they did Larry.”

Former Corbin Mayor Scott Williamson said, via Facebook, Tuesday that Goodin “served his city very well for many years.”

“I appreciate his dedication. My prayers are with his family.”

Williamson was mayor when Goodin retired.

Corbin Police Chief Rusty Hedrick said the family was provided with a police uniform shirt and hat so Goodin could be buried, as he desired, in uniform.

Visitation for Goodin is being held today at O’Neill-Lawson Funeral Home from noon until 2:00 p.m. with a funeral to follow immediately thereafter.

Goodin will be laid to rest in Resthaven Cemetery in Corbin.

A full obituary is on page B-7 of this week’s News Journal.