Gary Gossen

Gary Gossen

1942-2025

Gary Gossen passed away peacefully in his home in Eldorado on February 7, 2025. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 4, 1942 to Dorris and Benny Gossen. He grew up in Wichita, but the happiest days of his childhood were spent on his grandparents' farms in Hillsboro and Howard, Kansas, where he developed a fondness for traditional music and learned to play his grandmother's organ, which had been her wedding present. He attended Southeast High School in Wichita, which had a stimulating post-Sputnik academic program and developed a life-long interest in other peoples and cultures. He attended the University of Kansas and spent his junior year in San Jose, Costa Rica, perfecting his Spanish and delving into traditional folklore. He received a fellowship to pursue graduate studies in anthropology at Harvard University, which led to many years of field work among the Chamula Indians in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. This led to the publication of his first book, “Chamulas in the World of the Sun” and many other publications. His teaching career extended over more than thirty years at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the State University of New York at Albany, and Deep Springs College in eastern California. He sang in the All Saints Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys in Albany, NY, for more than twenty years. After retirement, he devoted his time to gardening, good food and entertaining, and walking his dogs in the Galisteo Basin outside Santa Fe, and writing his memoirs. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Eleanor, his three children (Andrew Gossen, Amalia Beisler, and A. Nicholas Gossen), four grandsons, and two Bernese Mountain Dogs.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Friends of the Choir, All Saints Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, 62 South Swan Street, Albany, NY 12210.