Communism Foe Rev. Goff Dies

The Rev. Mr. Goff died Tuesday after collapsing on a street corner in Chicago, apparently the victim of a heart attack. He lad left his home here several days ago on a speaking tour.

The native of Darien, Wis., came to Colorado at least 30 years ago and had been active in anti-Communist movements since the early days of World War II when he was elected national chairman of the Christian Youth for America, a group organized to "combat the Community youth front in America."

He later established the Soldiers of the Cross, another right-wing organization.

He frequently tangled with many of those he viewed as foes of his political and religious crusade, tackling them through law suits, picket lines, leaflets, books and sneaking engagements.

Among those were entertainer Steve Allen and the early pacifist organization, SANE, former U.S. Sen. John A. Carroll, and those who advocated fluoridation of the water in Cortez, Colo., in 1960.

Sen. Carroll was the target of "pink slips" prepared by the clergyman and his followers during Carroll's successful bid for the Senate in 1956. They implied that Carroll had been "soft on Communism" while he was in the House of Representatives earlier.

Goff also criticized former Denver safety manager George T. Shank, a retired Army officer who said in 1955 that two Chinese leaders, Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En-lai, were "probably two of the smartest people in the world." The clergyman also was alarmed that Shank suggested Chiang Kai-shek would never recapture the Chinese mainland because people didn't want him as their leader.

The Rev. Mr. Goff, a widower and later divorced from his second wife, is survived by three small children of the Denver area, two brothers and sister all of Wisconsin.