RIO BLANCO COLORADO - OBIT: GOFF, Claude (d. 1957)

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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by

Brad Goff 

bggoff@prinetime.net

May 16, 1999

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Goff, Claude Obituary 



Posted by Brad Goff <bggoff@prinetime.net> on Sun, 16 May 1999



Surnames: Goff, Gross, Banta



Meeker Herald, July 25 1957:



Claude Goff County Pioneer Passed Away At Phoenix, Arizona



Claude Goff, one of the real pioneers of this county and the first white boy 

born in the town of Meeker, passed away July 6th at his home in Phoenix, 

Arizona. Mr Goff had only been ill a few days. He was stricken with a heart 

attack on July 1st and passed away on the 6th. Funeral services and burial of 

this Rio Blanco County pioneer were held in Phoenix.



Claude Goff was born March 23, 1885, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Goff. His 

parents were among the first settlers of this community. His mother Mary R. 

Hart Goff was the first school teacher in Meeker, coming here in 1883 and 

teaching in what had been the old hospital building during the time the 

troops were here. This building was located where the Sheridan home now 

stands on Fourth Street. Mr. Goff came to Meeker from Lily Park in 1884, 

being a member of one of the real Pioneer families. After living in Meeker 

for about ten years the Harry Goff family moved to the west end of the county 

and took up a ranch and established an Indian trading post fifteen miles west 

of the present town of Rangely.



When Claude Goff was sixteen years of age his father moved to the Marvine 

community in the east end of the county where he and his brother John Goff 

operated Marvine lodge. Mr. John Goff became a noted guide and the Goff 

brothers were the ones who guided President Theodore Roosevelt on his famous 

lion hunts in this area in 1900 and 1901.



Claude Goff was united in marriage to Miss Mary Gertrude Gross at Rangely on 

April 20, 1907. Mr. Goff soon after his marriage took his bride to Florida 

where they made their home for seven years. Later they lived in Arkansas and 

Tucson, Arizona before returning to Colorado. On their return to Colorado 

they located at Cedaredge in Mesa County where they still have their home.



In recent years Mrs. Goff has been connected with the oil business,taking 

leases and blocking out sections of land for drilling operations. It was Mr. 

Goff who helped in the first leasing of the Powell Park structure in this 

area. He was a true Pioneer and saw the White river valley grow from its 

infancy to the present. He had a host of friends both in Meeker and the 

Rangely section of the county especially among the Old Timers.



The deceased leaves to mourn his passing his beloved wife and life partner, 

four children; three sons John Goff of Moab, Utah, Homer Goff of Denver and 

Bill Goff of Minnesota; one daughter Mrs. Stuart McLaughlin of Rangely; 12 

grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. There were nine children in his 

family, five of the children preceding their father in death.