Jack Gossett

Published
A veteran with a drink in a busy restaurant.
Jack Gossett

Edwin John “Jack” Gossett, Nov. 1,1936-Jan. 29,2026, (he wrote his own obituary).

As Old Ma Earth existed for millennia without me, so she shall again. Shortly after my 85th birthday, I had an epiphany: I don’t have time to drink cheap wine or cheap scotch.

I was born in the village of Dennison, Ohio, to Hazel Russell Gossett and Harold John “Squid” Gossett. (Yeh, Squid. I also had uncles named Goosie, Punk and Doc.) I graduated from Dennison High School in 1954. I had one sibling, Shirley Herron, of Port Orchard, Washington, who preceded me in death. My wife, the cellist Rebecca Evans, whom I was very lucky to meet and marry, and a whole pack of nieces and nephews survive me.

I studied the Russian language in the military. For five years, during the height of the Cold War, I served with the U.S. Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) as a Russian linguist, spending two of those years flying spying missions along the borders of the Soviet Union.

I attended the Ohio State University, earning a degree in Biological Sciences. I did well scholastically, graduating cum laude, and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. After the military, I worked as a Russian linguist with the government in Washington D.C. and worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a biologist, working in Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and ending my career in Seattle.

I became a private pilot and owned several airplanes, including a Piper J-3 Cub. I helped build an experimental biplane. I flew ultra-light aircraft and powered parachutes. I made a parachute jump. I enjoyed the company of motorcycles and rode a yearlong adventure on a bike from Washington D.C., up the Alcan (1100 miles of then gravel and mud) to Alaska, down the west coast to Mexico, and eventually back to the east coast. I also loved sports cars, owning several over the years.

I loved canoeing and took several memorable long distance canoe trips. I also loved traveling to the end of the road in Florida, Cabo San Lucas, north to Newfoundland and Cape Flattery. I also traveled frequently to the Arctic, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America.

I was always pretty much a loner but did belong to the American Legion and Seattle Chapter 2 of the Disabled American Veterans.

And I was lucky enough to have had several good and true friends.

And that, my friends, is that. I have reached my road’s end. I will be cremated, my ashes mixed with those of my cat Taku and scattered somewhere in the Cascades with a good view, where big cats are known to roam. There will be no funeral or memorial service.

Though it got harder to do as I aged, I hope I traveled this world with curiosity and courage. Drink good wine (& scotch!). Adios amigos.

If you wish to honor Jack with a gift, the following organizations will gratefully accept donations. The Nature Conservancy, nature.org/en-us and the American Lung Association, www.lung.org

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