Golf Games, Broken Bones and Tootsie Pops

Retired Lake County Judge John Goshgarian gave an endearing history of his father, the late Doctor Gaspar Goshgarian, respected Lake County physician, surgeon, and businessman.

The program was featured on April 11 at a meeting of the

As a very young child, Dr. Goshgarian emigrated from an Armenian Village in
Turkey around 1911. His father settled the family in Waukegan, Illinois, drawn by the prospect of work at U.S. Steel. Waukegan was a very diverse community at the time.

Goshgarian's mother sent him out to learn English, and the child returned speaking Finnish! Obviously, the area was comprised of many ethnicities. Goshgarian started work young, selling newspapers on a street corner. He then began caddying at the local golf course where he fell in love with the sport, later becoming a champion player.

Caddying and working at a local radio station, he paid his way through college.
Graduating from the University of Illinois at Champaign, and attended medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Interning at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Goshgarian met his wife Anne, a nurse. They were married in 1938 and moved back to Lake County, Illinois.

The couple started a family, and the doctor began seeing patients at his office on Cedar Lake Road in Round Lake. Dr. Goshgarian also performed surgery at St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan. Dr. Goshgarian was known for handling after hours emergencies at his office above his garage at his home on Washington Street in Highland Lake.

Many babies were delivered, bones set, stitches sewn, and Tootsie Pops dispensed to good patients. Injured people from as far as Fox Lake came for emergency treatment, as this was before the time of rescue squads and mobile emergency units.

Helping people was Dr. Goshgarian's goal. He believed that there was good in all
people. The doctor worked with banks to assist medical student receive loans. He was instrumental in setting up the Round Lake Chamber of Commerce, First State Bank of Round Lake, Home Savings and Loan of Grayslake, and the Round Lake School District, just to name a few.

He also believed that reading is the great equalizer, and he donated generously to the Round Lake Library. Doctor Gaspar Goshgarian retired in 1982 to enjoy his family and play golf. He passed away in March of 2002.

Medical equipment and artifacts from his home office are on display at the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum. The Grayslake Historical Society meets monthly to conduct society business and present a program of historic Grayslake significance for members and guests alike onthe second Wednesday evening of the month in the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum, 164 Hawley Street. The meetings begin at 7:30 p.m.

Future scheduled historical sessions include a presentation about the former Frank Sullivan Co. manufacturing plant in Grayslake on May 9.

The is open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and during downtown community events.

Contributed by the Grayslake Historical Society.