Dennis William Godfrey |
| Posted 2010-07-01 by Sharla |
| The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 05/23/2006 Dennis William Godfrey died April 30 in a single vehicle accident near Greer at the age of 54. He was born Aug. 4, 1951 in Providence, Rhode Island to Eleanor Vose Masse and the late Clarence (Bud) Masse. Dennis grew up in New England and graduated from Cumberland High School in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He worked in Massachusetts as an auto mechanic for Toyota for eight years before moving to Arizona. Dennis had also enjoyed working on foreign sports cars, Volkswagens and his Jeeps and Hum-Vee. He loved adventure, the water, the woods, the mountains, small town living, driving to nowhere-in-particular, joking, arguing, laughing, talking trucks and hanging out with friends, reminiscing about old times, classic rock, body building, and living life to the extreme. Dennis was an avid outdoorsman, always interested in trying something new at least once and in his free time enjoyed windsurfing, skydiving, flying airplanes, dirt-bike racing, skiing, fishing, rock climbing and hiking, four-wheeling and dogsledding with his Siberian Huskies, Mugwa and Oreo. Shortly after moving to Arizona in the mid '70s, Dennis took an interest in learning about and working with solar power throughout the state and later opened Godfrey Plumbing and then Godfrey & Associates in Pinetop. He was an extremely hard worker and could design, build, remodel, repair, paint, wire, landscape or plumb just about anything. Dennis had high expectations, a strong will, stubbornness and determination which helped him persevere after serious injuries he sustained in a near-fatal Jeep accident in Sept. 2004. He never gave up, took the easy way out or expected anyone else to do something for him. He would figure out a way to do it for himself, by himself and pushed himself far more than most people would have to accomplish what he set his mind to do. He implemented his own version of "physical therapy" which was the git-r-dun method and had been gradually improving in his abilities against all odds and doctors' predictions. Although this radical lifestyle change Dennis dealt with and the adversity he faced every day was often almost more than he could bear, he still had times of great happiness, big dreams and plans for his future and his wry sense of humor. Despite his rugged individualism and independent lifestyle, Dennis knew that God's higher calling for his life was to trust Him for his eternal destiny accept Him as his guide and gear-up for the ultimate adventure he's experiencing now. Dennis was an inspiration to many, is deeply missed and will always be remembered as a truly unique individual by those who knew him well. He is survived by his mother, Eleanor Vose Masse of Cumberland, Rhode Island; brother, Glen Masse (Annabelle) of Fall River, MA.; one niece; one nephew; one great-niece, several aunts, uncles, cousins and his beloved dogs He was preceded in death by his father, Clarence (Bud) Masse. Committal services were held Friday, May 19 at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, R.I. and will also be held Sunday May 28 at 1 p.m. at Cornerstone Community Church on Johnson Drive in Lakeside (in the Senior Center building) behind Loafin' Levi's Local arrangements were handled by Burnham Mortuary in Eagar. See Also: Find A Grave |
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