Royal Goheen

Kennebunk, Maine

Royal Leonard Goheen, 90, died peacefully on September 28th in Kennebunk, Maine. He was born in Bottineau in 1935 to Royal W. and Erma Peterson Goheen, and raised in Souris, Plaza, and Kensal. In 1957 he earned his Bachelors at UND and started his teaching career in Langdon. He married Jean Holdridge in 1958.

Royal earned his M.Ed. (1961) and Ed.D. (1967) at Boston University. He was an Associate Professor at Northeastern University until 1969 when he became Chair for the Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). Active in his church (UCC), Kiwanis, and the State Board of the YMCA, he was also a Mason. At home he enjoyed carpentry and, with Jean, prioritized family meals, camping, and travel.

At UMPI Royal was Director of Athletics from 1986 until his retirement in 1997.

In 2011 he received the Hall of Fame Award for Meritorious Service from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. A three-time President of the Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, he was proud of his contributions in curricular development for students with handicapping disabilities.

After he and Jean retired to South Dennis, MA, he enjoyed the Old South Dennis Village Association, Eventide Arts, the Cape Cod Men’s Club, and he ran a popular church auction for years. They retreated to ND for the summer where they had built a log home near Lake Metigoshe.

When in 2012 they moved to Kennebunk, ME, Royal enriched his retirement community, building a horseshoe pit and organizing potlucks, croquet tournaments, and poker. He moved back to Presque Isle after Jean died in 2014, but still spent summers in ND hosting popular pie parties. He returned to Kennebunk in 2019 and received loving care from his nurses and aides at Huntington Common.

Royal leaves behind his children Cynthia (Christine Turner) of Montague, MA; Shannon (Thom Huettner) of Dennis Port, MA; Peter (Leah Buck) and grandchildren Eleanor and Clinton of Chapman, ME; his sister Avis Tvedt (Ronald) of Bottineau, ND and dear friend Gayle Collins of Kennebunk, ME. Donations in Royal’s name may be sent to Metigoshe Ministries or to the Bottineau County Historical Museum. To visit the tribute wall, visit bibberfuneral.com.

Published by The Minot Daily News, October 18, 2025.