Graveside services for lifelong Mancos resident Charles Oliver Goff will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 9, at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Charlie, as he was known to family and friends, was born July 6, 1917, in Cortez, the son of John and Dora (Dugan) Goff. He passed away at the Valley Inn in Mancos on Monday, Aug. 5, 2013, at the age of 96.
On Feb. 10, 1946, Charlie married Cleola Maye Dean in Aztec, N.M. The couple shared 54 years of marriage before Cleola's death in July 2000. Charlie proudly served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. After his honorable discharge, a group of veterans including Charlie founded the Mancos Veterans of Foreign Wars Post. For many years, Charlie served as chaplain. both on local and district levels within the V.F.W.
During Charlie's working life he began as a cowboy, then moved to the plywood plant just outside of Dolores, on to Durango to work in a sawmill, back to Mancos at the match factory, and finally to Hesperus to the coal mines from which he entered into retirement. In Charlie's free time, he enjoyed gardening, fishing and hunting, tending his Appaloosas and spotted donkeys, and most of all telling stories, usually weaving five or six together simultaneously.
Surviving Charlie are his children, Carol Denton of Nordheim, Texas; David E. Goff; Deana Goff and husband, Walter Costello; Celia Boyd and husband, Steve; and Edie Hurst and husband, Steve, all of Mancos; and 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Charlie was preceded in death by his parents; his beloved wife, Cleola; four sons, Darryl Goff, Charlie Goff, Clayton Goff and George Goff; two grandchildren; and his siblings, Dora Black, Della Archer and Johnny Goff.
Services are under the direction of Ertel Funeral Home. For further information or to send condolences, log on to www.ertelfuneralhome.com and click on the obituary section.
