GOOCH, Robert P.

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

GOOCH, Robert P. (Burlington, IA, Dec. 18, 1940--Dubuque, IA, June 16, 2016). Known affectionately as the "Master of Disaster," Gooch was involved in civil defense in Dubuque County for twenty-four years. In his honor, May 10, 1999 was proclaimed "Bob Gooch Day" by the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors. (1)

The son of Lester and Edith Gooch, Bob graduated from Burlington High School in 1958. In 1962, he received his bachelor’s degree from Vennard College in University Park, Iowa. He graduated and was ordained by the Salvation Army Officer’s Seminary in Chicago in 1964. He was the father of David B. Gooch, of Bemidji, Minnesota, and Paul A. Gooch, of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He married Barbara Ann O’Meara in 1976, and a daughter, Kristin M. Moser, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was later born to them. (1)

Bob was the Director of the Dubuque Salvation Army Corps from 1964 to 1973, starting many new programs and, with the help of many Dubuquers, building the present Salvation Army headquarters. He then became the Emergency Management Director for the city and the county of Dubuque. Active in local and national disaster relief programs, Bob directed relief work with the Salvation Army during the Dubuque floods of 1965, 1967, and 1969. In 1977 he became the first director of the DUBUQUE FIRE AND RESCUE SQUAD. Bob was involved with many initiatives, including improved storm coverage, communication systems, E911. He retired from this vocation in 1999. (2)

Bob was involved in many community programs. He served on an advisory panel to Dubuque County Social Services, president of the Downtown Kiwanis Club and the Dubuque County Chapter of the American Heart Association, member and past treasurer of the Key City Coin Club, member and chairman of the Dubuque Salvation Army advisory board and district chairman of the Dubuque District of the Boy Scouts of America. (3)

Bob served on the Executive Board of the NE Iowa Boy Scouts of America and received the Silver Beaver Award in 1991. He was very active at ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. He served three terms on St. John’s vestry and was active in prison, music and preaching ministries. He served as vice-chairman and board member of the NE Iowa Emergency Medical Services Council and President of the Iowa Emergency Management Director’s Association. Bob received the first annual Iowa EMS Award presented by Governor Terry Branstad in 1987. He was named volunteer of the year by the Iowa Special Olympics in 1992. In 2013, along with his wife Barb, he was awarded the Dubuque County EMS Star of Life award. (4)

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Source:

1. Reber, Craig, "'Master of Disaster' to Retire," Telegraph Herald, May 11, 1991, p. 1

2. Obituaries. Telegraph Herald, June 26, 2016, p. 22A

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.