Former Lake County Commissioner Bill Good, a slow-growth advocate who beat the odds as a Democrat in a heavily Republican county, died Thursday night of a heart attack while vacationing in Spain, his wife posted on Facebook.
Bill and Sandi Good of Yalaha traveled frequently in the U.S. and abroad. Bill Good, 67, was an outdoorsman, lover of the sea and a devoted musician who always carried a guitar wherever he went. He frequently posted videos of himself strumming around the globe.
“We had just finished a cruise where he played for many people making their lives a little brighter and more fun,” Sandi Good wrote in her Friday post. “The last night he played for a Korean couple on the back deck so they could dance for their anniversary. Bill loved Seville and Triana with its flamenco music and dance. His beloved guitar will remain here with a flamenco school in Triana.”
Good, at the time president of the Lake County Conservation Council, was elected to a commission seat in 1994 with 54 percent of the vote over Republican Hope Lamb.
It was the first time since 1966 a Democrat had won a County Commission race. No Democrat has won a commission seat since.
A retired high school science teacher, Good lost in a squeaker in his 1998 re-election bid — falling by 132 votes to Republican Bob Pool. Pool then defeated Good in a 2002 rematch.
Good was part of a short-lived slow-growth majority on the commission, which had been viewed as being friendly to development interests.
After his narrow defeat, he remained active in politics and served as chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party in 1999.
“The job of the Democratic Party is to find thinking, compassionate, empowering candidates,” he said at the time.
Nancy Hurlbert, current Lake County Democratic Party chairwoman, said Good hadn’t recently been a party executive committee member but the Goods attended party functions.
“What a big loss for us,” Hurlbert said. “We could always depend upon Bill to pick up a guitar when we needed a light moment.”
Tributes poured in on Facebook, with many saying they enjoyed Good’s posts during the couple’s travel adventures. They were in the midst of what they called an “Iberian Odyssey” in Spain and Portugal.
On Feb. 2, Good shared a post of his wife’s from their Barcelona visit, including a photo of him on a bench playing his guitar. He commented: “A GOOD morning!”
His wife called Good, who had a perpetual smile on his face, her ”travel partner, favorite guitarist, my husband, and the love of my life…”
“A fitting tribute, if you so choose,” Sandi Good wrote, “would be to go to his site on YouTube, musicvot, and listen to some of his beautiful compositions.”
jfallstrom@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444
