Carol Gossard, who modeled haute couture on the New York fashion runways before moving to the wilds of Colorado in 1950 to become a rancher’s wife, died in her sleep early Tuesday at the Cheesman Park condominium she had lived in since her husband’s death in 1997. She was 84.
As per her wishes, there will be no funeral. Instead, a “grand picnic” will be held in the wildflower meadows near Chatfield Reservoir on a to-be-determined date in summer. The Gossards had no children; survivors include several nieces.
A stately and elegant woman, Gossard made one of her last public appearances on May 2 when she attended the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Awards Luncheon at the Westin Tabor Center to congratulate community service award recipient Frederic C. Hamilton. She had been given the same honor in 2005.
In 2001, when she won Colorado Preservation Inc.’s Dana Crawford Award, Gossard recalled how drastically her life changed after marrying Bill Gossard and moving to his spread in rural Moffat County. There was no running water or indoor plumbing on the 35,000-acre Gossard Ranch, and the couple either grew or hunted food for their table.
Bill Gossard served four terms in the state legislature. In 1982, the couple moved to Denver and became generous supporters of causes and institutions that ranged from the Colorado Symphony and the Central City Opera to the Red Cross and the University of Colorado’s Center for Bioethics and Humanities.
Volunteer on big scale
Carol Gossard was a 44-year volunteer for the Red Cross and made the lead gift for the construction of Fulginiti Pavilion for Ethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center Fitzsimons campus.
In January, she was honored as Citizen of the Arts by the Fine Arts Foundation and in April she received the second Heart of Volunteerism Award given by Metro Volunteers.
“We have lost a very good friend,” said Christine Benero, chief executive at the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter. Benero was one of the last to see Gossard alive.
On Saturday night, as she and Carrie Besnette were en route to the Colorado Symphony Ball, they dropped by Gossard’s condo so that she could see them in their ballgowns.
On Sunday, Benero brought dinner to her friend. “It broke her heart that she couldn’t go to the ball,” Benero recalled, adding that Gossard was delighted to learn that a diamond choker she had donated for the gala’s auction sold for thousands over its appraised value, to a couple that especially appreciated its provenance.
Other causes that Gossard supported were the Colorado Historical Society, The Denver Foundation, the Life Quality Institute, Historic Denver and Colorado Council on the Arts.
Staff writer Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.
