Adrian Kent Goss
Dr. Adrian Kent Goss, 69, San Antonio, Texas passed into God’s arms at 9:16am Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at Methodist Hospital, San Antonio after complications from spinal surgery. He was born November 28, 1951 in Nashville, Tennessee to Sidona Urban Goss and Joseph William Goss all of Joelton, TN. He attended schools in Nashville and Chattanooga, TN and graduated high school from the North Carolina School Of The Arts, Winston-Salem, NC in 1969. After high school he worked as an actor in New York and a chef in Atlanta, GA. His Mother, from Lowake, TX, took her children to Miles and San Angelo,TX for many joyful summers. As a little boy he repeatedly said he was going to Texas to be a cowboy. In 1969 he moved to Longview, TX. He worked as a bricklayer at Lone Star Steel, Lone Star, TX.
After he suffered a back injury at Lone Star Steel, through Workman’s Compensation he entered college for the 1st time in 1986, age 35, at Northeast Texas Community College, Mount Pleasant, TX. In 1988, he graduated with an Associates of Science with High Honors. In 1990 he graduated from the University of TX, Tyler with a BS in Chemistry with Honors. While he was at at UT Tyler, he was chosen for a summer Chemistry program at UT Knoxville, TN where he lived with his sister, Yvonne, husband Michael and his nephew Jonathan. He slept on Jonathan’s top bunk bed. He found his passion for science and health and planned to enter physical therapy school. However, he decided to become a Physician and graduated as an MD in 1995, age 44, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; he was nominated for the Gold Cane Award for the best bedside manner. He completed his Family Medicine Residency there in 1998 and his Fellowship in Rural Medicine and Obstetrics in La Grange, TX in 1999.
He chose to care for patients and families over their lifespan. He loved to build relationships with his patients, to know how they lived and to be sure that they understood their care. In 1999, age 49, he began a solo Family Practice and Obstetrics in Bastrop, TX with privileges at Smithville Regional Hospital. In 2005, after 5 years of solo practice, he joined a group practice in Bastrop and Elgin, TX for 10 years. In 2015 he moved to San Antonio, TX and did home visits with Visiting Physicians Associates until his retirement in 2019. To all of his patients and families, he would say “I loved you and that it was an honor and a joy to care for you all. Thank you for entrusting me with your care.”
He loved being a Texan, wore black Justin ropers and drove his white GMC truck. He loved Topo Chicos, BBQ, chili, bean and cheese breakfast tacos, peppermints and sweets of all kinds, especially ice cream. He enjoyed the news, CBS and Netflix. His favorite musicians were Tom Petty, BB King, Buddy Guy, and Allison Krauss. He loved UT Football: “Hook ‘em Horns”! He was a great cook, loved to fish an played the banjo and the trombone in high school. He had an endearing and enduring a sense of humor and loved to joke. One of his favorite sayings was “There are two things money can’t buy: true love and homegrown tomatoes.” He would laugh to hear his sisters say that those tomatoes had to be from Tennessee.
He had many friends from many walks of life. Of very special note is the nurse he worked with delivering babies at Smithville Regional Hospital, Lynda Miller, now of Conroe, TX. Lynda lovingly cared for him after several surgeries and he lived with her and her husband Russ for several periods of time. His family has deep gratitude to them for their care and love. He cared for her Mother, Dorothy, whom he loved dearly, for 14 years until her death at 102 in 2021.
He was preceded in death by his 4 year old little brother Joel Mark Goss (1956-1961), father Joseph William Goss, PhD (1924-2003) and Mother Sidona Urban Goss (1920-2008). His living relatives will forever love and miss him: His dearly and deeply beloved children Eli (Elissa) Goss of Seattle, WA and Grayson Bartsch-Goss, 10, and his Mother, Kara Bartsch Engle, both of San Antonio, TX. His younger sister, Jennifer Rutherford, husband Joe; nephews Richard Cantley, wife Erin, children Everley and Brooks all of Knoxville, TN and nephew Ryan Cantley, wife Jessica of Portland, Oregon. His older sister Yvonne Cato, husband Michael of Knoxville, TN and nephew, Jonathan Martin, wife Rachel and son Jack of Chattanooga, TN. He was also honored to be a step-parent for several years to Billy Platt, Marshall, TX and Sherrie Anderson, Longview, TX.
His favorite quote was “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.” (Thornton Wilder). He will be remembered for his love for everyone he encountered and his big, kind and tender heart. He was of the Episcopal faith. A remote private family Service of Remembrance will be performed by Father John Padgett of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, San Antonio, TX. It will be held at 9:00am CST, Saturday, October 2nd outside in God’s church at Chapel Hill Funeral Home and Crematory, San Antonio, TX as his body passes into the Crematorium. His Ashes will travel with his child, Eli (Elissa) Goss to their home in Seattle, WA. Later in the fall, they will return with his Ashes, first to Knoxville, TN and then to San Antonio for his Celebration of Life.
His Obituary may be viewed via Chapel Hill at wecare@chapelhill.com and on Legacy at legacy.com. Both have space for messages; please share any remembrances and comments as they will be so welcomed and appreciated. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, San Antonio, TX, a Memorial Tree planted through Chapel Hill or to any charity of their choice.