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Midvale Journal

Goff Mortuary serves Midvale for a century

Mar 08, 2023 01:24PM ● By Annabelle Larsen

Clifford Goff, pictured in dress-attire on the left, stands in front of his mortuary service in Midvale in the 20th century, on the corner of Center Street and Main Street. (Courtesy of FamilyTree)

For almost as long as Midvale has been a city (established 1909), Goff Mortuary has been a stable presence. 

The mortuary, located at 8090 S. State St., originally started in Midvale in 1915. The original founder was Clifford Isaac Goff. He was born July 27, 1877 in West Jordan. His father, Hyrum Goff, was 27 and his mother, Maria Tryphena Arnold, was 22 at the time. Clifford married Sabina Larson in September of 1903 in Salt Lake City. They had at least two sons and three daughters, but the exact number of children from Goff is unknown. He passed away May 4, 1942, in Midvale at the age of 64 and was buried in Midvale. 

Clifford Goff operated the mortuary until his son, Louis E. Goff joined him. Back then, Goff Mortuary advertised themselves as C.I. Goff and Son Mortuary. Louis Goff eventually purchased the mortuary from his father and with the help of friends, family and part-time employees, enjoyed success in the mortuary business.

In the early 1950s, Louis Goff hired Gates P. Christensen and later sold him a portion of the mortuary. In the mid 1950s, Goff Mortuary was incorporated and a new mortuary was built on State Street, where is still stands today.

After the death of Louis Goff in 1971, Christensen and Delworth W. Ballard purchased the mortuary from the Goff family. Eventually, Christensen retired and Ballard, along with a team of licensed funeral directors and embalmers accepted the responsibility of continuing the Goff Mortuary tradition, keeping the Goff name intact as the company’s titular title. 

In January 2011, Chad M. Anderson purchased the mortuary. Anderson has worked alongside Ballard at Goff Mortuary since May 2003.

The Anderson family has been involved in the funeral industry since 1866, making Chad a fifth generation funeral director and embalmer, providing mortuary services to folks from Midvale for many years now.

“There’s a lot of history and heritage, so it's an honor to serve those families that we have been for a century,” Anderson said. 

Although the world has changed a lot in the past 100 years, much of Goff Mortuary services have remained the same. They have a vintage hearse that can be used by families for services, and thanks to a small staff, the experience is more personalized and unique. 

“Most things have stayed the same, technology has been implemented in areas, but overall we kept things similar to what they have been for the life of the mortuary,” Anderson said.