Richard Fraser Gosse, Q.C., known across Canada as Dick Gosse, was a lawyer of many careers, all of them pursued with flair and verve. He died in Vancouver on November 18, 2008. Few have had a legal career filled with such adventure, changing positions and new challenges, all of which were characterized by enthusiasm, delight in novel circumstances and great success. At his core were charm, energy, a firm grasp of the undoubted virtues of law and legal process, seriousness in meeting responsibilities and a wonderful gaiety in his dealings with the people with whom he strove to serve society.
Dick Gosse was born in Vancouver in 1924, a grandson of a Newfoundland sea captain from whom, one might surmise, he gained his indifference to hollow formality and his penchant for unorthodoxy. He attended Prince of Wales High School in Vancouver and upon graduating joined the RCAF. He became a pilot and served during the Second World War with a bomber command squadron based in Yorkshire. Following war service, he attended McGill University and obtained a B.A. in 1947. He then studied law at the University of British Columbia, obtaining an LL.B. in 1950. He articled in Kamloops to E. Davie Fulton…
For more, read Profile of Richard Gosse from The Advocate, 67 (2009).