Donald Dean Goff

Donald Dean Goff

1927 – 2015

Donald Dean Goff, 88, of Edmond died December 1, 2015 with family by his side. He was born February 23, 1927 in Lecompton, KS to Ora Nelson and Mame Irene (Riley) Goff and grew up on the Riley family farm. His family later moved to Topeka where he graduated from Topeka High School in 1944 and attended Washburn University. He married Marilyn Rose Griswold in 1948 and they resided in Topeka. Don worked at the Kansas Highway Commission as a draftsman and then he and Marilyn moved to Dickinson, ND when he took a job with the U.S. Department of the Interior. They moved back to Topeka when he accepted a job with the Department of the Air Force where he did architectural design and drafting. Finally, they moved to Bartlesville, OK when he went to work for Phillips Petroleum Co. where he held several positions involving electro-mechanical and mechanical design work. Don was co-inventor of the Phillips vertical seismic profile (VSP) tool and was co-inventor of other U.S. Patents while at Phillips. The last, and most fulfilling, assignment of his career involved the design and fabrication of two slim line VSP tools and a surface control unit for use in the North Atlantic by the Institute of Geophysics at the University of Texas. He took early retirement from Phillips in 1985 in the wake of the oil bust. In his younger days, Don enjoyed water skiing and was an avid fisherman. He enjoyed playing golf, working in his yard and on projects around the house, watching college basketball and OSU football. Most of all, he was dedicated to his family. Prior to moving from Bartlesville to Edmond in 2014 to be near his daughter, Don attended First Wesleyan Church and volunteered at Mary Martha Outreach. He never lost his love for design work and was always happy to lend a hand to a friend or neighbor. Don was a devoted and loving son, brother, husband, uncle and daddy. He was blessed to have lived a long, healthy life and he stayed active until a few weeks before his death. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Riley Burdette Goff, sisters Marjorie Dennis and Maxine Baer, and his wife of almost 60 years. He is survived by his daughter, Marcia Lynn Goff and fiancé Mike Johnson and extended family members including close nephew, Bryan Dennis of Topeka. Don requested that no services be held. His cremains will be interred later this month at Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Don’s memory to either the Infant Parent Intervention Center, 2242 NW 39^th St, OKC, OK 73112 or to the Education and Employment Ministry, 14 NE 13^th St, OKC, OK 73104.