Goodell was born on December 1, 1876, although sources disagree whether it was in Salem, Oregon or Hillsdale, Kansas, outside Topeka.

[4][5][7] He continued working for them until 1927, when he retired to accept an appointment by Herbert Hoover as the Internal Revenue Service collector for Arizona.

En route, she contracted pneumonia in San Antonio, Texas, was hospitalized, and died on January 26, 1906.

When he received word of his wife's illness, Goodell left for San Antonio, but she died before he arrived.

[17][18] Grosetta had resigned from the council to join the U. S. Army when the United States entered World War I.

[19] In 1918 he ran for re-election, this time with former Tucson mayor and former Arizona House of Representatives member, A. H. Beuhman.

[22] In the primary, Beuhman had chosen not to run, but there were two other candidates, Elias Hedrick, who had served the prior term in the Arizona House of Representatives, and R. E.

[24][25] With the Republicans in control of the Senate during the 5th Arizona State Legislature, Goodell was given the chairmanship of the appropriations committee.

[32] He lost to incumbent Henry O. Jaastad by an almost 2-1 margin, 2,873 to 1,448, in an election which saw very few voters, despite expectations for a large turnout.

[35][36] While Goodell won his home county of Pima by a large margin, he lost to Frank Luke in the general election.

In November 1927, Goodell was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to become the U. S. Collector of Revenue for the State of Arizona, succeeding John Towles.

[44] By the late 1920s Goodell and his partner, Tom Blackburn, owned several mining properties southwest of Tucson.

[6][13] His retirement was forced due to a state law prohibiting government employees working behind age 75.

He remained on in the position until September 30, 1956,[8] In April, 1960 Goodell suffered a stroke and was moved to the Byam Nursing Home in Tucson.