It is with immense sorrow that we share the news of the passing of Edward Godinez. He will be missed greatly by his family, friends and co-workers.
 
Godinez started his federal career in 2013 with the Forest Service as an AD Firefighter on the Angeles’ Roadrunner Crew (Type 2). From there he went on to work in New Mexico with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Bosque del Apache and Bitterlake national refuges. In 2019, Edward came to the San Bernardino as the air tanker base engineer before being selected for the Air Tanker Base Manager duties.  

Godinez served as the San Bernardino National Forest acting airtanker base manager and had been just selected to serve permanently in that role. He was known for his calm demeanor and was beloved for the way he brought people together, according to Forest Supervisor D.D. Harrison.
 
“He was a son, a brother, an uncle, a fiancé, a firefighter, a man of God…and now he’s our angel,” wrote the Godinez family. “Eddie once posted a quote by Oscar Wilde: ‘You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.’ When it came to Eddie, we could all hear it. His song was our favorite. He made everyone feel like family. He gave the best hugs. It’s hard to put into words what made Eddie so amazing.”
 
His colleagues share that same sentiment. “He was loved and it will not be easy to summarize the impact he had on us all,” said Leslie Casavan, the national airtanker program manager. In a remembrance from Godinez’s airtanker crew, they said, “Edward never judged anyone for their inexperience and took it upon himself to personally develop each of us not as ‘firefighters’ but as a community, as friends, and as people.” And colleague and friend Marc Durocher looked up to Edward’s leadership, saying, “He wanted those he worked with to be curious, to learn daily and to grow as individuals to accomplish their goals and he never hesitated to go out of his way to make sure this was accomplished.”
 
Letters of condolences may be sent to: Godinez Family c/o San Bernardino National Forest, 602 S. Tippecanoe Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408.