Obituary of Ward Goff

Ward Stanley Goff was born on July 22, 1925 in East St. Louis, IL to Frank Edward Goff and Rachel (Bridges) Goff. Ward passed from this life at his home in Bartlesville, OK on Sunday, September 1, 2013 at the age of 88. He grew up in Muskogee, OK and graduated from Central High School. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during WWII and served honorably in the Construction Battalion, AKA "Sea Bees". After the war he met Lahoma Smith and they were married and moved to McAlester, OK. He worked for Union Iron Works (BEMAC Supply Company) a plumbing wholesale company and retired after 40 plus years. After retirement they moved to Bartlesville to be closer to family. He loved to play golf, loved to play music with his stand up bass and was the family story teller. How do I begin to tell you about our dad, well first of all he had a great sense of humor. He had to have one living with us boys! There was a time when he fell asleep on the couch in the living room and brother Mike, being the jokester, got out the Pledge dusting spray and polished the hardwood floor right in front of the couch to a "high shine". He then ran the clocks up to show it was 7:30 AM, not the actual time of 9:00 PM. He turned off the TV and the lights and then proceeded to wake dad up from his deep sleep. Now mind you, dad had his socks on. So when Mike woke up dad he told him he overslept, so dad leaped up off the couch and when his feet hit the floor both legs went out from under him and he flew up in the air and landed on his rear with a heavy thud! The look on Mike's face was priceless! I don't remember what happened next because I ran out of the house as fast as I could! It couldn't have been too bad, because Mike is still here today! Another time, well, there were severalhe used to walk around in his underwear, we all did because we were guys.. poor mom. This one night he went out to get the evening paper and Mike again being the jokester, locked the door behind him and I began to flipping the light switch on and off like a strobe light, all the while dad is yelling at us to let him in! I can still hear the neighbors saying, "What are those Goff boys up to now! Their poor dad". Dad was a liar. He said he was going to kill us but we are still here today. Dad was a provider, he did all the grocery shopping and provided for his family the best he could. It was very difficult to raise 4 boys that loved to eat and drink milk and play sports. We ate a lot of "oats and toast"! Dad was not a "griller". First of all we didn't have one but he made one out of bricks and an old refrigerator stainless steel shelf. When you cooked on it, you had to get on your knees to cook and it didn't have any ventilation so the coals never really got hot. When the neighbor lady, Mrs. Glass, saw what we were doing she gave us her grill because she never used it. A nice lady Mrs. Glass. But one time it started raining on dad while he was cooking on it, so he brought it into the back porch, a closed-in back porch and the smoke like to have killed us!! We survived, again. Also, melorene ice cream, need I say more. Dad was a teacher, he taught us how to skip a rock across the water, taught us how to throw a baseball and catch one as well. He taught us how to kick a football and put a spiral on it. He taught us how to drive a standard. The many times we convinced him to go to the city dump to haul some stuff just so we could drive on the old dirt road leading up to the dump. He taught us the game of golf, which I will always be grateful for. He taught us how to work hard and be loyal, honest and humble. He taught us how to treat other people with respect. One time I was riding in the truck with dad and he kept waving to the other people in the other lane and he turned and looked at me and said "I know a lot of people." And I replied, "yeah, but do they know you?" We got a big laugh out of that one. Dad was story teller. Enough said, we've heard them all.many times! But I wish we could hear him tell just one more story. Dad was a giver. He gave his time. Many times he and mom would just jump in the car and go for a drive. They would drive miles just for the heck of it. Remember, gas was like 40 cents a gallon back then. He would take us out to the municipal airport in McAlester to watch the planes take off and land. It was not a busy airport, so we just sat there in the car and watched. We would go to Gibson's (like a small Wal-Mart) just to look around. Most importantly he gave his unconditional love and he told us that all the time. How lucky we were to have him in our lives. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Lahoma; a son, Richard Smith; his brothers, Russell and Bill Goff; his sisters, Delores Thomas and Thelma Wilkinson. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Ronnie and Jan Goff of Gans, OK, Mike and Denise Goff of Bartlesville, OK and Steve and Carmen Goff of Jenks, OK; his grandchildren, Jim, Mika, Keely, Samantha, Brittany, Ashley and Bethany and 8 great grandchildren and 1 great great-grandchild. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to St. James Presbyterian Church, 11970 S. Elm, Jenks, OK 74037 where he attended with his son Steve and his family on many occasions or Rivercross Hospice, 3723 S.E. Frank Phillips Blvd., Bartlesville, OK 74006.