Margaret Mary Goran

Margaret Mary Goran, age 98, of Grants Pass, died Saturday, September 27, 2014 at Countryside Village.

Family services will be held at a later date. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Margaret was born December 15, 1915 in Crookston, Minnesota to Samuel James Finley & Marie (Trudeau) Finley. After her mother Marie died in November of 1919, a month before Margaret’s 4th birthday, Margaret was raised by her aunt, Emma Virginia & Henry G. Woutat, MD in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Margaret graduated from the College of St. Benedicts in St. Josephs, Minnesota and following college, completed training as a medical technician at Miller Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. While employed as a medical technician in Rockford, Illinois, Margaret met Dr. Joseph Robert Goran. They were married on August 23, 1938 in Crystal Falls, Michigan. Margaret and Joe had four children. Their first son was born while Dr. Goran was stationed in Louisiana. Their second son and two daughters were born after the war.

Joseph Goran, MD served as an Army medical officer in the European theatre during World War II. During the war years Margaret and son Michael lived with her sister Dorothy in the Seattle area. After the war, Margaret and Joe resided in Denver, Colorado while Dr. Goran completed a residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Colorado. The Goran family moved to Moline, Illinois where Dr. Goran maintained a private medical practice as a pediatrician from 1946 until he retired in 1992. During the Moline years, Margaret raised four children and together with Joe had an active role in the community. Joe and Margaret enjoyed vacations in Palm Springs, California and moved there in 1992. In 2012 she moved from Palm Springs to Grants Pass.

Margaret was devoted to her family, and she was a wonderful and generous mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her greatest joy was visiting with and helping her family. She lived on her own, in a condominium in Palms Springs until after her 96th birthday, and she maintained an active social life during all those years. She loved to play bridge, gin rummy, scrabble and other games, and was unbeatable through her long years. She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by all who knew her.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Michael John Goran, MD (Hansine) of Bodega Bay, California, William David Goran (Jennifer) of Champaign, Illinois, Nancy Louise Groshart (Jerry) of Ogden, Utah, Margaret Ann “Kelly” Moodie (David) of Grants Pass, Oregon; seven grandchildren, Josh Woodbury, Anna Jacobson (Darren), Leah Moorhead, Charles Goran (Sarah), David Goran (Shannon), Jacob Goran and Daniel Goran (Malerie Noel); ten great-grandchildren, Spencer Goran, Lucas Jacobson, Annika Jacobson, Meg Woodbury, Jesse Goran, Miles Goran, William (Archer) Goran, Jeremiah Goran, Hadassah Goran and Jonathan Goran.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Robert Goran, MD; her parents, Samuel James & Marie (Trudeau) Finley; two sisters, Elizabeth Marie Kern and Dorothy Smart; and a grandson, Michael Woodbury.