2014 Citizen of Note, 25-year member of Conservation Commission, world traveler
Charlie Gorss. (Courtesy photo)
Charles George Gorss Jr., 96, a resident of Harvard for 54 years, died Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at New Horizons in Marlborough.
He was the son of Charles G. and Helen (Leverence) Gorss and was predeceased by his wife, Ruth (Neaman) Gorss, who died in 2002.
Charlie is survived by his son, James Gorss, and his wife, Eileen, of Harvard, and his daughter, Barbara Fogal, and her husband, Douglas, of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Anna Blais; Carolyn Gorss; Brandon Fogal; Andy Fogal and his wife, Rink Tacoma-Fogal; Talon Fogal; and great-grandchild, Aspen Blais.
After graduating from high school in Tonawanda, New York, Charlie enlisted in the United States Navy, serving in World War II. He was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and received the American Theater Medal and the Victory Medal for his service. He then attended Cornell University, graduating with a degree in engineering in 1950. He married Ruth, his high school sweetheart, and started a family in Boonton, New Jersey. In 1969, he relocated his family to Harvard and worked as an electrical engineer at GenRad in Concord.
Charlie traveled extensively, enjoying skiing, hiking, and photography. He made it a goal to travel to all seven continents and accomplished that with Antarctica in 2012. He especially enjoyed spending time at his family cabin in Ontario.
As an active citizen of Harvard, he worked with the Boy Scouts as an advisor to the Explorer post, and had been active for decades in the Congregational Church and the Lions Club. He served on the town Personnel Board for 13 years and Conservation Commission for 25 years. A regular at the Fall Festival, you would have likely found Charlie working the cheese table. Charlie was also honored as Harvard’s “Citizen of Note” in 2014.
A celebration of life for Charlie is being planned.
.
.
