Ira Benjamin Gossard Sr., 90

Ira Benjamin “Sug” Gossard Sr. of Spring City, PA, died Tuesday, June 2, 2015, in Genesis Health Care – Sanatoga Center, Pottstown, PA. He was 90.

He was the husband of the late Grace E. (Posta) Gossard who died November 3, 1984.

Born in Hagerstown, MD, he was the son of the late Charles I. and Lucy (Cantner) Gossard.

Mr. Gossard was employed as a truck driver for Bachman Food, Inc., Phoenixville, PA, for 25 years until retiring in the late 1980’s. In his early years, he worked as a fireman on the Maryland Railroad.

A U. S. Army Veteran of World War II, he served in the Japanese Occupation.

Baptized in the Grace Assembly of God Church, Phoenixville, he was a former active member of the Grace Assembly of God Church, Spring City, PA, where he participated in various activities including the church’s maintenance and landscaping over the years.

Mr. Gossard was a member of the Thomas W. O’Connor Post No. 602, Spring City, and the Phoenixville Area Senior Center, Phoenixville, PA.

His interests included gardening, tinkering, building, trains, and flying model planes. A weather enthusiast, he also enjoyed bowling and bicycling. He never fell short of words when in conversation.

He is survived by three sons, Ira Benjamin “Ben” Gossard Jr. and his wife Karen R., of Perkasie, PA; James E. Gossard, of Telford, PA, and Thomas E. Gossard and his wife Yen, of Telford; a grandson, Benjamin K. Gossard; his long-time companion and friend, Marian Presgrave, and her family Donna, Fred and Tammy; and two sisters, Mary Tingle and Doris Young her husband Kenneth, all of Hagerstown, MD. He was preceded in death by three sisters, Genevieve Sampsell, Helen Fuller and Louise Gossard, and two brothers, Charles and Howard Gossard.

His Memorial Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, 2015, at St. Andrew’s United Church of Christ, 615 East Walnut Street, Perkasie, where family and friends may call from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Interment will be held privately at the convenience of the family in Valley Forge Gardens, King of Prussia, PA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Thomas W. O’Connor American Legion Post No. 602, 25 N. Main Street, Spring City, PA 19475, or to the Phoenixville Area Senior Center, 153 Church Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460.

Arrangements are by the Bernard Suess Funeral Home, 606 Arch Street, Perkasie, PA. www.suessfuneralhome.net