In memory and tribute: Bryan Matthew Goulding

Life story

Bryan Matthew Goulding was born on October 19, 1977 to Robert (Bob) Goulding and Diane (Nibbelink) Goulding in Sacramento, CA, where he resided until his passing on September 22, 2026.

Bryan, along with his cousin Brad Nibbelink, who was six months older than him, grew up alongside each other like brothers before, and even after Bryan's sister, Laura (Goulding) Aguirre came along four years later. Together, the boys played baseball up until 15 years old for River Park Baseball and East Sacramento Babe Ruth, where Bob, Bryan's dad was their head coach and manager.

Between all of the adventures of family vacations to Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, DisneyWorld, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii, Wyoming, Mexico, and everywhere in between, and even to a few countries in Europe when he was in his twenties, Bryan always loved adventure. He appreciated a good rollercoaster, zip lining, snorkeling and going parasailing. He and Laura got certified in scuba diving together and he enjoyed going on dive trips anywhere the destination allowed. He loved to ride his dirt bike with his friends and cousins, and going out in the fresh fallen snow on his snowmobile to cut the trails in the powder for the family and friends that followed behind whether he was out in Wyoming on the family's annual snowmobile trip or just up in the hills of Lake Tahoe and Northern California. He even signed up for a few snowmobile races against other competitors when he was a teenager, but decided that the expense of repairing the beating the snowmobile took wasn't worth the effort if it meant he couldn't ride it for fun as he didn't like waiting for it to be fixed. He looked forward to going on annual family hunting trips to Idaho for deer and elk, and it wasn't just because he got to ditch school for a week to go. In the opposite season, he'd head to the family's ranch in Knights Landing with his beloved yellow lab Bailey for pheasant hunting season, or to his Uncle Gary's duck blind to see about retrieving another duck to have mounted on his wall. He loved to spend time at the family cabin in Strawberry/TwinBridges, where he would work on whomever's dune buggy needed to be built or fixed or adjusted at the time. He had a brilliant mind for mechanics and liked to take things apart and put them back together.

Bryan was apart of the third generation of the family's businesses of Sacramento Valley Alarm Security System, Inc (SVA) and Certified Safe and Lock Company (CSLS), where he worked with his cousin Brad, Uncle Greg, sister and mom, Diane. As a teenager he started out with CSLS doing general locksmithing of cutting keys and learning the art of picking door locks. As he grew older, he became more involved with SVA and would go on calls to do fire checks, burglar alarm installations, drawing plans with autocad, programming panels and doing system downloads.

Bryan was a father to his two children, Colin (20) and Natalie (17), for whom he shared with his ex wife, Lindsay (Frieze) Goulding, and was so proud of the accomplishments of both of them and the ones they had their eyes set on in the future. Bryan's infectious smile and dimples plastered across his face with pride when he watched Colin graduate from Rio Americano High School...the same school he, himself graduated from in 1996. And he was so excited to get to watch Natalie do the same knowing that she was going to head off to college after she received her high school diploma in the spring of 2027. He was so proud to see them do all the things throughout their lives, that he either never did, or wanted to do himself. Bryan was also a step father of sorts to Darian Thomas (24) whose mother, Leta Thomas he had been in a longterm relationship with. The three of them together traveled to various places, making memories to add to his lengthy list of adventures he went on.

While Bryan certainly battled his own demons with alcohol, and succumbed to the results of the damage that such had on his body, he was a good person with a big heart. He was very much loved and will be deeply missed.

Bryan is proceeded in death by his paternal grandparents Fred and Evelyn (Powell) Goulding, and his maternal grandparents Everett and Laura (Zanotto) Nibbelink, as well as his nephew, Ryan Aguirre.

Bryan was survived by his parents, Bob and Diane, his son Colin, his daughter Natalie, his sister Laura, brother-in-law Steve, niece Evelyn, Leta and Darian Thomas, his Uncles Greg and Gary Nibbelink, his Aunts Bev Lee and Linda Nibbelink, and his cousins Brad, Shawn and Devin Nibbelink, as well as countless extended family members and friends.

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