Dr. Wayne H. Gossard, M.D., F.A.C.S, passed away on March 23, 2020 at age 97. Born April 25, 1922 in Colorado Springs, CO., to William Earl and Ollie Harrell Gossard, he graduated from high school in 1940 and immediately enlisted in the United States Navy to escape the Great Depression and snow shoveling. Inducted into the Navy in San Diego, he graduated from boot training and received his initial training as a pharmacist mate. After completing his pharmacist mate training, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital and the Receiving Ship U.S.S. Seattle at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York in the Spring of 1941.
While serving on the Seattle, Dr. Gossard gained his first real-life experiences in medicine and patient care. Giving inoculations, suturing cuts, and assisting Navy surgeons with complex surgical procedures whetted his appetite for more. In late 1941, as America entered World War II, he was accepted into the Navy’s Pharmacy and Chemistry School held at the newly constructed Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, DC. Graduating from the Pharmacy and Chemistry School in 1942, and with America at war, Dr. Gossard received his overseas posting and was assigned to the U. S. Naval Dispensary in Tutuila, American Samoa, where, for the next year as a Pharmacist Mate Second Class, he ran the base hospital and provided technical assistance to the nearby Marine detachment whenever their still malfunctioned.
In September of 1943, with the Navy in desperate need of line officers, Dr. Gossard was selected for the Navy’s V-12 officer education program. Given three choices of colleges to attend for the V-12 program, he chose Colorado College, USC, and Michigan; the Navy, of course, sent him to S.M.U. in Dallas. All was not lost, however, as he soon met his future bride, Betty Jane Cesinger, a Kappa Kappa Gamma co-ed, whose parents conveniently lived just a few blocks from campus. A member of Kappa Alpha Order and Cycen Fjodr men’s honorary, he excelled academically in his pre-med studies and in the summer between his junior and senior years took and passed the medical school entrance exam and was accepted into the newly formed Southwestern Medical School. Completing his medical school studies in 1949, Dr. Gossard embarked on his post-grad internship and, later, surgery residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital. This latter course of training was interrupted in 1951 when the Navy called again, and, now, Lieutenant JG Gossard USNR was recalled to active duty for service in Korea. After a brief stop at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, TX, Dr. Gossard was assigned to the U.S. Navy hospital ship Consolation (AH-15) as a surgeon, where he received invaluable surgical experience, especially in the area of vascular surgery, treating battle casualties.
Honorably discharged from the Navy in 1953, Dr. Gossard returned to Parkland for the completion of his surgery residency. In 1955, he opened his surgery practice and joined the house staff at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he would maintain his private practice for the next 30 years. During that time, Dr. Gossard chaired the Department of Surgery, served as President of the hospital’s medical staff, was elected President of the Dallas County Medical Society, served on the Methodist Hospital Board of Directors, and was recognized by the county medical society with the Max Cole Leadership Award. After retiring from private practice, Dr. Gossard served for 18 years as Director of Graduate Medical Education at Methodist Hospital, overseeing the training of interns and residents during the founding of the hospital’s trauma and transplant programs. Just months before his passing, Dr. Gossard received the Servant Leader Award from the Methodist Hospital Foundation Board for his many years of service to the medical profession and to Methodist Hospital as a dedicated teacher and mentor and as a leader of character.
Dr. Gossard was an avid woodworker and enjoyed making furniture and play things for his grandchildren. His handmade cradle was used by all of the grandchildren, as well as by many young neighbors just starting families. He loved all dogs and fine horses, and he never missed an opportunity to cast a fly in moving water. He always made the best of every situation. When macular degeneration robbed him of the ability to read and forced him to retire from the profession he loved, he never complained; he just switched to audio books and continued to learn new ideas. He had a keen interest in history, and his powers of recall about people and events from the past were legendary. Reflecting on his full and exemplary life, he always said, “I owe everything to the Navy.”
Dr. Gossard was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Betty Jane Gossard, and is survived by his sons and their families: Wayne H. Gossard, Jr. and wife, Lisa; Grady C. Gossard and wife, Tracy; Craig W. Gossard and wife, Lisa; three grandsons: Matthew, Jacob, and Robert; and by Laurie and John Milliken.
A memorial service will be held at a date and time to be announced when the current Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. Memorials may be made to Methodist Hospitals of Dallas Foundation, 1441 N. Beckley, Dallas, TX 75208.
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