Helen Hardy Goss

Helen (“Sissy”) Hardy Goss, 90, formerly of Daytona Beach, Florida and Oneonta, New York, passed away on November 7, 2021 at her home at The Residence at Pearl Street in Reading, Massachusetts.  Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Helen Hardy -- one of the first New York supermodels in the 1920s -- and Walter Hardy -- a stockbroker who was one of the first jalopy racers on the beach at Daytona in the 1930s. Sissy was likewise a pioneer, being the only female student in her class at the University of Florida in the 1950s to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting in an era when few women went to college.

A graduate of Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach and the aforementioned University of Florida, Sissy also attained a Certified Financial Planner diploma from Colorado’s College for Financial Planning, and was a Wall Street aficionado.

An exemplary member of the Greatest Generation, Sissy devoted her life to family and  community, serving in countless volunteer leadership roles throughout her life. This included serving on the Board of Directors of the Daytona Beach Metropolitan Bridge Club, as Treasurer of St. James Episcopal Church in Oneonta, and heading up Otsego County’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program for many years. She was an avid and skilled bridge player, attaining Life Master status from the American Contract Bridge League, and was also a member of the Delta Delta Delta Alumnae, Panhellenic Alumnae and University of Florida Alumnae clubs.

Sissy was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband of 47 years, Richard Moore Goss, a naval aviator and industrial engineer who retired from Corning, Inc. Survivors include twin daughters and their husbands -- Lisa and Emilio Staffiere of Stoneham, Massachusetts, and Valli Goss and Charles W. Ferris, Jr. of Glendale, Arizona.

A private ocean memorial service to celebrate Sissy will be held in Daytona Beach. Memorial donations may be made to the Halifax Humane Society, www.halifaxhumanesociety.org, or to a charity of one’s choice.