Richard J. Goggin Jr.'s Obituary
Richard J. Goggin, Jr. (Dick)
Richard (Dick) Goggin passed away suddenly on August 29, 2021. He was 67 years old.
Born in St. Louis, MO, Richard grew up in Newtown, CT (a town that cast more votes for George Wallace than Hubert Humphrey in the Presidential election of 1968). As a child, he attended Sandy Hook Elementary. He graduated from New York University.
Richard’s career in advertising and broadcasting would take him to nearly every corner of the country, with assignments in New York City, Providence, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and South Carolina. He worked with clients in Boston, Orlando and Pittsburgh. He recorded music in Dallas and Chicago. Richard lived many places. He considered Baltimore, MD home.
Richard’s professional successes were many. When he left WJZ-TV in the mid-1980s, that station’s evening newscasts had the highest audience rating and share of any television station in the nation. At WRC-TV he oversaw the audience research, talent changes and new marketing direction which led to this NBC O&O’s climb from fourth place in late night news ratings to first place, where it remains today. His tenures at NBC6 in Charlotte and Fox Carolina helped those stations achieve new heights in audience ratings, as well. In 2007, Richard returned to Baltimore for a third time to help launch the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). During his tenure as Creative & Marketing Director, television audience ratings for Orioles broadcasts on MASN were among baseball’s best; top five for all MLB teams between 2015-2017, despite the Orioles having a winning record only one of those seasons.
Richard’s creativity and marketing acumen were well-documented. During his time at MASN, he won more than seventy Addy and Emmy awards. These were just a fraction of the honors Richard received during his career. His most prized awards? An Addy for original music composition and a national Emmy award for public service campaigns. He was proud that so many he mentored went on to have significant careers in broadcasting and marketing.
Richard was well-known for his love of music, old movies, baseball, outsider art, museums and gardening. He was equally well-known for his strong opinions on almost every topic. Richard cherished summer nights walking through Baltimore’s Federal Hill and Riverside neighborhoods, listening to the sounds of an Orioles game coming from the open windows of row homes, while the glow of Camden Yards lit up the evening sky. He loved watering his gardens in the cool and growing light of early spring mornings. He prized the eight pages of Goggin listings he had torn out of a County Cork phonebook, while on a vacation in Ireland.
Richard had little respect for authority, and even less respect for Republicans. He was an avid softball player, but a lousy guitar player. During music recording sessions Richard had the uncanny ability to point out any musician or singer who was the slightest bit off-key or tempo. Yet, he was the worst singer you ever heard.
More recently, Richard chronicled his battle with cancer during the Covid pandemic for a much-heralded opinion piece in the New York Times.
Richard had many regrets. However, in the end, he was at peace with himself.
Richard leaves behind his beloved sister, Vicki Goggin, a son, Justin Redd, and his long-time companion Lori Ann Helmholz, along with many cherished colleagues and friends.
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