Arlene Joyce Goss

January 26, 1925 - April 27, 2020

Arlene Joyce Noble Goss died of old age at the age of 95 at her home, Adult Comfort Care in Vancouver, Washington on April 27, 2020. She was born on January 26, 1925 in North Bend, Oregon, to parents Clifford Warren and Tressa May Miner Noble. She grew up in Oregon, spending many years in cities on the Oregon Coast. On July 17, 1941 at 16 years of age, she married the love of her life, Delphia Isaac Goss, in Stevenson, Washington. Delphia enlisted in the United States Marine Corps when World War II broke out. They lived for a while in Santa Ana, CA. When Delphia was shipped overseas, Arlene moved to Heppner, OR and lived with her parents and niece, Elizabeth Jean Rowe, whose mother had died of polio. Arlene and Delphia; their son, Noble Thomas Goss was born in Heppner on August 11, 1944 while his father was on leave, then Delphia left ten days later to serve in the Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater and in China, first as an airplane mechanic then a fighter pilot in World War II. After the war, family lived in Hood River, then moved to The Dalles. On April 15th, 1947, Arlene had a daughter, Daphne Jeanne. In 1949, Delphia and Arlene came to love a foster child, John Paul, “Johnny” and adopted him! He was born September 25, 1940. In 1952, the Gosses bought 80 acres, mainly a cherry farm, 5 miles outside of The Dalles, where Three Mile and Dry Hollow Roads converge. Desiring to increase their family, they chose to adopt Ardel Marie, born January 10, 1954, when she was nine months old! On the farm, they raised their four children, enjoyed a garden and various farm animals. After their children left home, they sold the farm and relocated to Dayton, OR in 1976, where Delphia served as Chief of Police. Because Arlene’s father was a minister, she moved a lot when she was young, attending school in Newberg, Dayton, and Rainier from 1931 to 1939, when she completed the 8th grade. She also went to school in Elkton, Winchester Bay; Heppner, Dufur, and The Dalles, where she finished the 10th grade at The Dalles High School in 1941. Her favorite school years were in Winchester Bay, she loved living on the coast. Interestingly, years later Delphia became the Chief of Police in Dayton, OR, and she and Delphia relocated there from The Dalles in 1976 and lived there about 30 years. So she returned to both Dayton and The Dalles after she and Delphia were married. When Arlene was 45, she worked on getting a diploma, earning a General Education Diploma from the Oregon Board of Education on June 24, 1971 at the age of 46. In 2005, Delphia and Arlene moved to Vancouver, WA to be near their daughter Daphne and son-in-law Bill Bynum. On Sept. 5, 2007, Adult Comfort Care became their home, where they were provided with loving care. Delphia passed away there on June 5, 2012, just a month before their 71st anniversary. Sweet-natured, Arlene, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt, loved her family and was involved with church activities. She was baptized by her father, a Pentecostal minister, in the Willamette River at the age of 11, then again in the Columbia River six months before Daphne was born in 1947. She remained a faithful Christian all her life. Surviving children include Noble Thomas Goss (Teresita) of Eugene, OR; Daphne Jeanne Goss Bynum (Bill) of Vancouver, WA; and Ardel Marie Goss Lewis (Larry) of Salem, OR; daughter-in-law Edna Kae Elizabeth Goss (John) of The Dalles, OR; nine grandchildren, (plus, one step grandson) and 18 great-grandchildren. She considered her sister’s daughter, Elizabeth Jean Rowe Anderson (Mel) of Salt Lake City, UT, as her own daughter. She was preceded in death by her parents and older sister, Musetta Estelle Noble Rowe; her husband, Delphia; and her son, John Paul.