SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. – John Joseph Godin, 72, passed away on Dec. 22. He had sought treatment for cancer at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and died at the home of his daughter and son-in-law.

He was born in Lewiston on Oct. 11, 1933, the son of Joseph Alfred Godin and Lillian Mae (Bean) Godin. He attended Hebron Academy after graduating from Edward Little High School in 1951. He attended Bates College and the University of Maine before graduating from NYU in 1962.

During the Korean War, he served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman and was a member of the First Army Honor Guard stationed at Governors Island, N.Y.

He enjoyed a long and distinguished career in communications for IBM World Trade, from 1962 until his retirement in 1988 from his position as communications manager and coordinator for IBM Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Tour Pascal in Paris. In that position, he was responsible for formulating and executing a coherent and focused advertising and promotion strategy for the many disparate businesses of IBM World Trade. During his career, he served in numerous executive capacities for IBM World Trade Communications Division in Manhattan, Mt. Pleasant, N.Y., IBM Canada in Toronto and in Paris.

Upon his retirement in Paris, he returned to his home in Scarborough, N.Y., in 1989, and then moved to Portsmouth, N.H., in 1992. He enjoyed retirement. An avid golfer, he was a wordsmith who loved getting the better of crossword puzzles and traveling with his wife of 50 years, Connie Gurney Godin. Greatly loved by his family, he will be especially remembered for his total devotion to his wife and daughter, Tawny. Tawny was Miss America 1976 and is a well-known news anchorwoman and TV host in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his wife of Portsmouth, N.H.; his daughter, Tawny Little Welch, and son-in-law, Richard Welch, of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; and his grandsons, Joseph John, 18, a freshman at Boston College, Christian Don, 16, and Thomas Cole, 4.