Maurice Rofheart, (Mairem Rofes) the father of Elias and first husband of Esther Goldberg, married 26 June 1886, their son Elias Rofheart was born nine months later - 2 April 1887 - and then in November 1888 his father Maurice traveled for business from Milwaukee to Denver, (he was looking to expand his father-in-law's wholesale grocery business) where he died alone and unknown from a burst appendix on 23 Nov 1888, ( the day after Thanksgiving that year).

On August 12, 1889 Esther married Nathan Berkowitz in in a Civil Ceremony. (They could not be married in a Jewish Religious Ceremony, as there was no knowledge or evidence of the fate of Maurice.)

The evidence for this is this Burial Permit, and most important - what is not filled in is permission to ship the body, which means no one claimed his body, meaning his wife Esther never knew what happened. The undertaker who removed the body, LW Rogers, did the pauper burials for Denver in Denver City Cemetery under contract.

In 1893 the City decided to transfer the roughly 5,000 graves and make way for a park. Very few of the graves were actually transferred, it was a scandal. From extensive research and many phone calls with historians in Denver, it is likely that Maurice's grave was "lost". Cheesman Park was built over the graves. There are no grave markers there.

Continued research with Denver's Jewish cemeteries might yield some clues.

Burial Permit No. 6158 Health Commissioner Denver Colo. Nov 26, 1888 Permission is hereby given for LW Rogers to remove for internment the remains of M. Rofheart. Date of Death Nov. 23, 1888, White, Age 28. Cause of Death : Peritonitis