Robert “Bob” Goss enjoys an evening with his daughter, Lisa, at the Blue Mountain Conference Center in La Grande on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at the 73rd annual Farmer-Merchant Banquet.

LA GRANDE — To recount the story of the life of La Grande businessman Robert “Bob” Goss is to reflect on improbable tales.

At age 14, Goss drove cars from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to his family’s auto dealership in La Grande. When in his 50s, he owned and operated six local businesses at once over a span of several years. Upon entering his 90s, he kicked sand in the face of Father Time by continuing to play tennis and dance.

He did all this while maintaining an unwavering dedication to those around him.

“Bob was always community minded in so many ways,” said John Howard, owner of John Howard Real Estate and Associates.

The compassionate and sometimes unconventional story that was Goss’ life ended Thursday, April 6, when he died in La Grande at age 98.

“Bob was a La Grande icon,” Howard said. “He left a big footprint.”

Bob Goss was the son of M.J. Goss, the founder of La Grande’s Goss Motor Co., which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022. Like his two brothers, Bill and Ken, he was an integral part of the company from a young age, sweeping its floors before he was 10 and driving cars his family’s company had purchased in Kalamazoo to La Grande at 14.

“He was too young to have a driver’s permit, so he used the license of his older brother Bill,” said John Groupe, Goss’ nephew and a retired veterinarian in Pendleton.

It was an amazingly cost effective means of transporting vehicles.

“All that it cost was a bus ticket,” Groupe said.

Successful businesses

By the time he was in his mid-20s, Goss was helping run not only Goss Motors but also Gateway Motors, a dealership his father also owned in La Grande. M.J Goss died in 1961, after which the ownership of his two dealerships was split between his three sons. Bob Goss took ownership of Gateway Motors, and Bill and Ken Goss assumed ownership of Goss Motors.

Bob Goss moved Gateway Motors from Adams Avenue to Island Avenue and ran it through the mid-1980s. Businesses he also purchased during that time included the Pony Soldier Motel, La Grande, the Royal Motor Inn motels, La Grande and Baker City, the Boulder Park Resort, a dude ranch in Baker County on the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and a filbert orchard in the Portland area.

He succeeded at running the businesses simultaneously because of a penchant for placing the right people in the right positions.

“He surrounded himself with good people,” Groupe said.

Goss’ business enterprises frequently did well.

“Everything he did he was pretty successful at,” said Mark Goss, the current owner and general manager of Goss Motor Co. and Bob Goss’ nephew.

Regardless of what he did, Bob Goss always ended up making friends.

“Bob was well liked in the community,” Howard said. “He was always positive and he never had anything bad to say about anybody.”

This good nature inspired him to dial up acquaintances frequently.

“He was great about getting on the phone and checking on people. I was one of those people,” Groupe said.

Drum and bugle corps

Many of the friends Goss frequently reached out to were people he knew from his time serving in the military during World War II. Goss was a very active member of La Grande’s American Legion Post 43, which he joined in 1947. In 2022, Goss was recognized by the national branch of the American Legion for 75 continuous years of membership in good standing. He was the oldest member of Post 43 and the only local resident to receive such an award.

During his many years as a member of Post 43, Goss was actively involved in its drum and bugle corps. The band members were honored as state champions in the late 1940s and performed around the region. Goss, a bass drummer, took part in the Portland Parade of Roses on several occasions.

Groupe said Goss took great pride in representing the Armed Forces as a veteran.

“He almost always wore a military hat,” he said, noting that they include U.S. Navy caps.

An automobile aficionado

The sound of automobiles running was also music to the ears of Goss, who had an almost unparalleled knowledge of them. This was evident at the many car shows he attended.

“He could be 30 feet of almost any vehicle and he would tell you what model it was and when it was made,” Groupe said.

Goss also knew a lot about operating old vehicles, such as the 1920s-era fire engine he often drove in local parades.

“He was the only person in town who knew how to drive it,” Groupe said.

‘The nicest man in La Grande’

Goss also loved the outdoors. He has had a cabin at Wallowa Lake since 1951 and went on many pack trips into the Wallowas, including, Groupe said, one to Ice Lake when he was 88.

Through much of his 90s, Goss stayed ahead of Father Time. He played golf and tennis until he was 95 and continued dancing at the Union County Senior Center until a few months ago. Groupe credits Goss’ longevity to sensible living and regular activity.

“He lived a life of moderation and kept very active,” he said.

Goss maintained a healthy weight throughout his life, consumed alcohol only moderately, Groupe said, and did not smoke except for a spell early in his life.

Goss did not have an exercise regimen he followed closely, but when he was in his early 90s and spending winters in Arizona, he did take a 100-year-old man to daily workout sessions in a gym, where Goss would also work out. Such gestures, like his check-in phone calls, were commonplace for Goss.

“In my world, he was the nicest man in La Grande,” Groupe said.

This story has been changed to reflect a correction. Mark Goss is Robert Goss’ nephew.