Thomas Joseph Godar MD

December 31, 2019

Thomas Joseph Godar was born on July 21, 1930 and raised in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He attended Harvard College and Tufts University School of Medicine, completing his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital. He served two years as a Captain with the United States Air Force in Japan from 1957-1959 where he met and married 1st Lieutenant Mary Kaye Jones. Tom then went on to complete a four-year medical residency at both Boston VA Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT. Following a Fellowship at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, he returned to Saint Francis Hospital to establish a Pulmonary Laboratory, Clinics, an Associate Degree Respiratory Care Program based at Manchester Community College, a consultation service and the area’s first Pulmonary Critical Care Unit. Tom served as its Director until 1995 when he then assumed the position of Interim Director of the Department of Medicine. He subsequently retired in 2002 with an Active Emeritus status. Tom served as Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine where he attended the Chest Clinic for 30 years. He was President of The American Lung Association from 1988-1989 (National), also serving on the Board of the Thoracic Society. In this role, he testified before Congressional Committees on the health effects of air pollution. He was also President of The American Lung Association of Connecticut and on its Board for over 30 years, serving as the spokesperson on issues of Air Pollution Health Effects. Tom was a member of the U.S. EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee from 1990-1998. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Clean Air Action Corporation from 1994-1999, the Board of Directors of Saint Francis Hospital from 1991 to 2019. Tom was a life-long musician and accomplished cello player with the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra and a proud member of The Old Guard of West Hartford. His other passions were tennis, international travel with friends, bird-watching, geology and photography. Tom and his wife, Mary Kaye, became fully active members of The McAuley/Mercy Community in West Hartford in 2016. Tom was involved with various activities and committees, including the WhatWeThink Discussion Group and the Ethics, Quality Control and Dining Committees. Tom passed away peacefully on New Year’s Eve (12/31/19) surrounded by family and friends. His legacy will continue through all of the lives he touched with compassion, caring, teaching, mentoring and humor. Tom is predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Mary Kaye, his parents, Joseph Thomas Godar and Edwina (Lodone), his aunt Celestina Oliveri, his sister Carolina Hayles and her husband, Raymond Hayles, and cousins Elivra McKenna, Irene and Roy Cone. Tom is survived by his daughters, Paula K. Godar-Gidopoulos, Lisa Godar-Borodovsky and Lynn E. Godar-Mollica and their spouses, George Gidopoulos, Lev Borodovsky and Fred Mollica, his grandchildren, Jacob Thomas Borodovsky, Marie Amanda Gidopoulos, Mariah Yei-sun Borodovsky and Allie Jule Mollica, his great-grandchildren, Kyleena Marie and Navia Erica, nieces and nephews Daniel K. Jones, Mehry Taremi and their children, Ella and Jackson, Heather and Dan Fredericks and their daughters, Mona Long and Thomas Hayles, and cousins Bette and Larry LaPenta, Philip and Roxanne Cone and their children and grandchildren, Stephan and Jennifer Cone and their children and grandchildren. There will be a cocktail and music reception at the Pond House, 1555 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, Sunday, January 12th from 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. to celebrate his life. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either The St. Francis Hospital Foundation, 95 Woodland St. Hartford, CT 06105 or The Department of Pulmonary Medicine at St. Francis Hospital, 114 Woodland St. Hartford, CT 06105 or a charity of the donor’s choice.