"Doodgoeie mense"

On a memorial bench, I see the Afrikaans phrase "doodgoeie mense".

This phrase declares that those people, were good people. A phrase uttered slowly, with deep respect and acknowledgement.

It roughly translates to "honest-to-goodness people".
What it literally translates to is "dead-good people".

For a moment my brain broke in translation (it is good these people are dead?) and when it caught up I am left with this thought:

Why, would we associate being a revered good person, with being dead?
What is expected to die within you, to be "good"?