Goff's time in Menifee was short, but his legacy is long

I Love my God, my Family, my Christian music.
Husband, Step-Dad.
22 years on the Sports desk in SoCal.
-- Brian Goff's Facebook page

Commentary by Doug Spoon

Brian Goff was all that and more. I didn't know him very well, but we followed similar paths through newspaper sports departments in Southern California and finally to Menifee. You won't find anyone who had a bad thing to say about Brian, and everyone knew he was happier than ever during his time here in our city.

Brian was at home in Menifee Wednesday on his day off from sports copy editing duties with the Southern California News Group when he suffered a fatal heart attack. A veteran of the stressful duties of a newspaper editor, he had a new-found peace and happiness after re-connecting with his high school sweetheart. Brian and Tonya were married May 19, 2018. Brian, a Riverside native, re-located to the Heritage Lake community in Menifee, where he was a devoted husband and step-father to three boys -- Tyler (15), Timothy (13) and Trevor (10).

I worked with Brian for only a brief time in 2007 after his newspaper, the San Bernardino Sun, merged sports departments with several other newspapers, including my San Gabriel Valley Tribune, in what became the Southern California News Group. I soon left the company, but I continued to hear a lot about him from my son Darren, who has worked with Brian on the sports copy desk for years -- mostly recently at the SCNG headquarters in Monrovia.

Four days a week, Brian made the long drive from Menifee to Monrovia, remaining a dedicated journalist in a newspaper world that is so different than it used to be. In addition to copy editing duties on the night sports desk, he coordinated coverage of high schools and colleges for the Sun, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Riverside Press-Enterprise. In years past, each of those papers had separate sports staffs with multiple local sports writers. Today, the job is performed by a select few people like Brian Goff, who refuse to give up.

It was a job he loved, but not as much as his family, his church life and the woman he found again after nearly 25 years.

Responding to the "That Special Someone" Valentine's Day feature in the Menifee 24/7 newspaper this winter, Brian wrote the following for our Feb. 15 edition:

"In the Summer on 1987, I met a girl at my church. She had just moved to town from Oklahoma with her mom and her sister. By the Fall, we began dating and continued through 8th grade and into high school.

"After graduation, she moved back to Oklahoma to live with her dad and go to college. She met a guy, got married and had three kids. When that all fell apart in 2016, she moved back to California with her kids. They moved into her sister's house in Menifee.

"Her sister and my sister have been best friends the whole time, so our families have remained close.
I started making more trips from Riverside to Menifee, and before long we had found that old connection. On July 1, 2017, I proposed on the beach in Oceanside, and on May 19, 2018, we were married in San Diego.

"After spending a lifetime as a Riverside resident, I moved to Menifee, to the Heritage Lake neighborhood, where the boys go to school. We are loving our new life and living in Menifee. She had forgotten how much she loved palm trees and the sunshine."

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tonya and the family and we know the people of Menifee will be a comfort to them. Brian Goff will be missed, but the life he led was an example in professionalism, responsibility, love for his family and dedication to God. Rest in Peace, Brian.