CBS council pays homage to three community builders

By Craig Westcott

Members of CBS council paid their respects last meeting to three well known citizens who recently passed away; Caroline, better known as Carrie, Gosse, was the wife of former mayor Richard Gosse, but also a well-known personality in her own right; Randy Walsh, a quiet but effective former longtime manager of the Kelligrews arena; and George Goobie, a businessman and community volunteer.

“I want to extend my condolences to the families of Richard Gosse and Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse on the passing of Carrie, who many in CBS have known for years and years,” said councillor-at-large Christine Butler. “She was a wonderful lady. I knew her also and I just wanted to say I’m very sorry to hear of her passing.”

While her husband Richard was busy as the sometimes colourful and occasionally controversial mayor and public figure, Carrie carved out a public figure of her own though her church work on behalf of All Saints Parish in Foxtrap, as a leader with the Girl Guides, and as a founding member of the CBS Figure Skating Club and the Foxtrap Softball Association. She was also an executive member of the Foxtrap Senior Hockey team, Secretary of the 1996 Summer Games Host Committee and a member of the CBS Ladies Fastpitch League. Gosse was also the first woman to serve as an umpire in local men’s senior softball, and according to her obituary posted on Hickey’s Funeral Home’s website, “she never backed down from a call.”

Gosse was also a CBS Citizen of the Year, and with her husband helped build Sun Construction into one of the biggest and busiest road construction and excavating companies in the province during the 1980s and 1990s.

Gosse left to mourn a wide circle of family and friends, including her daughter-in-law, Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse, who is married to Richard and Carrie’s son Tony.

Deputy Mayor Goose is also related to Goobie, whom councillor at-large Paul Connors pointed out was a respected businessman and community volunteer. Goobie was the deputy mayor’s uncle.

Connors noted the passings marked a weekend of losses for CBS.

“Plus, we also lost a guy who anyone who went to the Robert French Memorial Arena saw Randy Walsh up there for 38 years,” Connors said. “He ran the facility, was the manager, he did almost everything up there. I think the only thing he never did was sharpen skates. Peter Nugent took care of all the sharpening of skates. But he was a longtime employee of the Town, and he was recognized by everybody. I just want to pass along condolences to his wife Diane and their children and (to the other families) on those passings.” Walsh too had a large circle of family and friends. In addition to working at the Kelligrews rink where he started off looking after the equipment that makes a rink run, before eventually becoming assistant manager and then manager, Walsh was a member of the naval reserve and an avid outdoorsman. He was respected by his colleagues for his quiet and cool compete