Gertrude "Trudy" Wright Perkins Godshalk died peacefully on October 11, 2020, less than five months shy of her 100 ^th birthday, at Palm City, Florida.

Trudy Godshalk was born on March 9, 1921 in Philadelphia, the second child of James Gerritt Bradt Perkins and Gertrude Shoemaker Wright Perkins.

In 1924 the family moved to the island of Java, Indonesia to establish a cassava plantation, an essential ingredient in the family vegetable glue business. Two of Trudy's favorite memories of her time there were her pet monkey and a doll house, that she has given to her great-granddaughter.  After clearing the jungle and setting up all necessities for full operation including a railroad, they returned to Pennsylvania in late 1926. Javanese "wayang" puppets still adorn her residence.

Trudy was enrolled from age six in Springside School, a country day school for girls, and attended through 12 ^th grade, was captain of the varsity lacrosse team and excelled in field hockey, basketball, baseball, drama, and student government. There were 18 girls in her Senior class and she was class President. In 1932, when Trudy was 11, her father died of a sudden heart attack at 42 years old; he had contracted malaria in Java and suffered periodic bouts which compromised his health. Times were lean during the depression for her widowed mother with three children and they moved in with her mother. Fortunately, a forward-thinking aunt felt that women should be educated and funded her college career. She was an exemplary student and was accepted at Wellesley College class of '43.

While a student there she met her soulmate, Ernest "Ernie" Lukens Godshalk, Jr. who was a student at Harvard Law School and who soon thereafter joined the US Army. She married her love on November 21, 1942. Due to the urgency of the war years, she petitioned the College to allow her to become a 'married student' (forbidden in the dorms!).  She had to plead her case before a committee and they agreed, with the caveat that "there will be no babies!" She graduated in 1943, Phi Beta Kappa. She remained an active alumna including attending her 65 ^th reunion.

Their first child, Ernest 3 ^rd , was born in Philadelphia in 1945.

After Ernie's return from the war and graduation from Harvard Law School, the family settled near New York City, first in Manhattan, and then in Newark where another son, Robert, was born and finally in Mamaroneck where a daughter, Cynthia, was born. It was there that Ernie fulfilled a marriage request from Trudy to learn to sail. They bought their first sailboat, a Rhodes 18, which they day-sailed on Long Island Sound. Trudy was active in the Parents and Teachers Association and in Planned Parenthood.

In 1959, the family moved to Wilmette, Illinois and later to Glenview. They bought a Flying Scot sailboat and became successful racers at the regional and national level. Ernie became president of the Flying Scot Sailing Association in 1970. They began cruising the Caribbean with rented sailboats in the 70s.

After Ernie's retirement in 1976, Trudy and Ernie moved to a water-front home in Stuart, Florida, where they pursued their dreams, buying a 36-foot sailboat, later a larger sailboat, and then a power boat, each named "Sirenia." On those boats, they cruised from Maine to the Bahamas. In 1986, Ernie became a member and later rear commodore of The Cruising Club of America, an organization with which Trudy was also active for the next 34 years, forming many lasting friendships and participating in CCA events around the world. They cruised in the Caribbean, Europe and South Pacific and traveled by land and sea to Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Antarctica. Trudy was a flag member of Crossroads Yacht Club.

Trudy became involved in conservation issues and supported many local and national organizations. She was named "Volunteer of the Year" for her work gathering monthly water quality data in the Manatee Pocket. She also raised oyster sprat in an effort by Florida Oceanographic Society to rebuild damaged oyster beds. She also became very involved in the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County where she taught art and tennis; Trudy and Ernie provided funds for the "Miss Trudy" art room at the Club.

Trudy was a founder, in 1980, and life-long member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Port Salerno where she was a regular attendee, supporter, active in many ministries and friend of The Reverend Carol Barron.

After they moved to Sandhill Cove Retirement Living facility in Palm City, Ernie's health declined and he died in 2009, just prior to their 67 ^th wedding anniversary. Trudy later celebrated her 89 ^th birthday with her family aboard the four-masted barque, "Sea Cloud." In recent years, Trudy continued to reside in the Sandhill Cove "villa," eventually with round-the-clock aides. Her children - especially Cindy, who had moved to Stuart - grandchildren and great-grandchildren were regular visitors. Trudy contracted COVID-19 in September 2020 and apparently survived the virus although it appeared to exacerbate other health concerns.

The family extends its thanks to the employees of Sandhill Cove Retirement Living and its Water's Edge facility, and to many dedicated aides for their care to Trudy while she resided there for many years.

Trudy was pre-deceased by her brother, James, Jr., and is survived by: a sister, Julia Perkins Dunn; Trudy's children, Ernest 3rd, Robert Godshalk and his wife, Victoria McGrath, Cynthia Godshalk and her husband, James Douglass; grandchildren, Dirk Godshalk, Sirie Godshalk Keefrider, Britta Godshalk-Lopez and Shawn Brightman; great-grandchildren, Soleil and Xander Lopez; nieces and nephews James Perkins, 3 ^rd , Grete Lewis Perkins, Robert Dunn, Elizabeth Dunn Ross, and Gerritt, David and Jonathan Dunn.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Martin County, P.O. Box 910, Hobe Sound, FL 33475.