About Robert Goris (1890-1934)
Photo above: Robert “Bob” Goris stands over a deer. What I Can Remember of the Leadville Fish Hatchery From 1921 to 1934.
Biography
Robert “Bob” Prosper Goris was born in 18901 in Leadville, Colorado, and he grew up in Leadville alongside his three siblings: Henryetta, Albert, and Emil. Goris’s father and two brothers worked as miners, and from a young age, Goris also worked as a miner and stationary engineer in Leadville’s Dome Mine. Goris later married Hazel Burn, and they had three children: Leonard, Frank, and Thelma. In 1923, the Bureau of Fisheries (Bureau) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, one of the predecessor agencies of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, appointed Goris as a fish culturist at Leadville National Fish Hatchery in Colorado. He served the Hatchery in this role until he resigned from his position in 1929. After briefly working as a miner, Goris resumed service to the Bureau in 1931, and he dutifully served as an apprentice fish-culturist at Leadville National Fish Hatchery until his death.
Cause of Death
On December 12, 1934, Goris was working in a sawmill at Leadville National Fish Hatchery. He attempted to move a belt of a revolving pulley with a stick, but the stick forcibly hit him in the abdomen. He suffered a rupture of the stomach where he had been previously operated on for a stomach ulcer, and on December 14, 1934, he underwent surgery. The operation was initially successful, but his condition deteriorated over the next several days. After being listed as critical, Goris died on December 17, 1934.
Footnotes:
1. Goris’s exact date of birth is inconsistent. On his World War I draft registration card, Goris listed his birthday as April 21, 1890. However, his father put Goris’s birthday as May 10, 1890, in the “Twelfth Census of the United States.”
Sources:
Acting Chief. “Reinstatement.” Division of Fish Culture, received by Robert Goris, 13 May 1931.
Bureau of Fisheries. “Death of Robert Goris.” Fisheries Service Bulletin, no. 236, Jan. 1935.
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. “Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 Population.” National Archives, 1930.
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. “Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920 Population.” National Archives, 1920.
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. “Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910 Population.” National Archives, 1910.
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. “Twelfth Census of the United States.” National Archives, 1900.
“Frank Goris.” Leadville Herald Democrat, 14 Aug 2003, www.leadvilleherald.com/archive/article_9c7e7a5e-e4d0-5c2f-8694-b74c31af8ead.html.
Goris, Frank. “What I Can Remember of the Leadville Fish Hatchery From 1921 to 1934.” Leadville National Fish Hatchery Centennial Book (1889-1989).
“History of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/history-of-fws.
“Notes from St. Vincents.” Herald Democrat, 17 Dec. 1934.
“Robert Goris.” People Legacy, https://peoplelegacy.com/robert_goris-0J2V6i1.
“Robert Goris has Abdominal Operation.” Herald Democrat, 14 Dec. 1934.
Schlamann, Marie, and Richard Cowling. Austro-Hungarian and Other Immigrants, Lake County, Colorado. Colorado Genealogical Etcetera, vol. 15, 1991.
Selective Service System. “Robert Goris.” World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, National Archives.