Published in San Francisco Chronicle from Dec. 24 to Dec. 27, 2015
Richard Wayne Goss II of San Francisco, CA, and Fishers Island, NY, on December 17, 2015, aged 82. He is survived by his wife Michele du Pont Goss, his son Richard Wayne Goss III and daughter-in-law Karen Barfod Goss, his son Jared du Pont Goss, his daughter Holland Goss Lynch and son-in-law K.C. Lynch, and five grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Porter J. Goss, his sisters Wayne G. Douglas, and Garril G. Page, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Born on November 3, 1933, in Waterbury, CT, to Richard Wayne Goss and Virginia Johnston Goss, he graduated from The Fessenden School (1947), The Hotchkiss School (1951), and Yale University (1955). He served in the U.S. Army as a 1st Lieutenant in the Artillery at Fort Sill, OK; as a member of the All-Army track team he set numerous athletic records.
An investment banker at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith from 1957 to 1981, he moved to San Francisco in 1965 to open the firm’s first office outside of New York City. From 1981 to 1985 he was an executive recruiter at Korn/Ferry International before returning to investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1985 until his retirement in 1990.
Elected to the board of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 1986, he served as its president from 1991 to 1998; he subsequently joined the Fine Arts Museums Foundation, and was its president from 2001 to 2007. He was a former trustee of Town School, The Hotchkiss School, Enterprise for High School Students, and Children’s Hospital. He was a member of the Pacific-Union Club, the Fishers Island Club, Hay Harbor Club, the Fishers Island Yacht Club, amongst others. He was long active in La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
Memorials will be held in San Francisco on January 19 and on Fishers Island at a later date. Please contact Holland Lynch at hollandgoss@msn.com for details of the service in San Francisco. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco or The Hotchkiss School.
