In Memoriam: Renée Good

Renée Nicole Macklin Good, 37, was a poet, wife and mother of three children. She recently moved to Minneapolis along with her wife, Rebecca Good, and her 6-year-old son.

“Like people have done across place and time, we moved to make a better life for ourselves,” Rebecca Good said in a written statement to Minnesota Public Radio. “We chose Minnesota to make our home. Our whole extended road trip here, we held hands in the car while our son drew all over the windows to pass the time and the miles.”

“What we found when we got here was a vibrant and welcoming community, we made friends and spread joy,” Rebecca Good continued in the statement. “And while any place we were together was home, there was a strong shared sense here in Minneapolis that we were looking out for each other.”

Renée Good had a daughter, 15, and a son, 12, with her first husband, and another son, 6, with her second husband, the late Timmy Macklin Jr., according to reporting from multiple outlets, including the Minnesota Star Tribune and the Washington Post. She was originally from Colorado Springs, Colo., and studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

Her poem “On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs” received the Academy of American Poets Prize for Old Dominion University in 2020.

The bio of the Instagram account renee.n.good, with a profile picture featuring instant photos of Renée and Rebecca Good, begins with a rainbow flag emoji and continues, “Poet and writer and wife and mom and shitty guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN.”

On January 7, Renée Good died after an altercation at the scene of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation near her home in South Minneapolis.

The incident, which was ruled a homicide by a Hennepin County coroner, is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The term “homicide,” when used by a medical examiner, indicates the death was caused by another person and does not automatically imply a criminal act. The findings of fact of her death will be determined by a competent court.

“Nae was the beautiful light of our family and brought joy to anyone she met,” Renée Good’s parents, Tim and Donna Ganger, and her four siblings said in a written statement released through their lawyers. “She was relentlessly hopeful and optimistic which was contagious. We all already miss her more than words could ever express.”

“Renee leaves behind three extraordinary children; the youngest is just six years old and already lost his father,” Rebecca Good said in her statement. “I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him.”