The Goddard Scholarship was created in memory of Charles A. Goddard, a teacher in Chaffee Public Schools.
The Goddard Scholarship is restricted to students who demonstrate measurable intentions to seek further education leading to a career in the theoretical and/or applied sciences and technology.
Mr. Goddard was born in Chaffee Oct. 18, 1916, to Charles Arthur and Coletta Pauline Pobst Goddard Sr.
An erudite man with many interests, he was known for his quick wit and love of a good joke. But it was his concern for his church, his community, and the youth of his home town that defined his adult life.
Devoted to education, he was both a popular teacher and mentor extraordinaire. The 1977 Chaffee High School Mogul was dedicated to Mr. Goddard as follows: “No greater thing can be said about a man than that he was served mankind well.”
Mr. Goddard received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Southeast Missouri State University. He taught high school science, chemistry and physics classes more than 30 years in Chaffee. He was honored as the state of Missouri’s Outstanding Biology Teacher during the 1970s. He taught drivers education, sponsored chess and photography clubs, and coached boys and girls tennis teams.
A World War II veteran, Mr. Goddard participated in recent years in a national effort to interview remaining veterans. He served as a first lieutenant and platoon commander of the 23rd Armored Engineering Battalion in the renowned 3rd Armored Spearhead Division. (The 3rd Armored was the first to pierce the Siegfried Line and first to take a German town. Campaign credits included Northern France, Normandy, Ardennes-Alsace, the Rhineland, and Central Europe.) Mr. Goddard was awarded the Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre.
After his Army service, Mr. Goddard returned to Chaffee and teaching. To recognize his lifelong commitment to education, Mr. Goddard was awarded the Chaffee High School Distinguished Alumnus Award in October 1999. Additionally, the Alumni Association initiated the Charles A. Goddard Science Scholarship Fund.
Southeast Missourian