Not a single dry eye remained as Mirror publisher Rudi Alcott accepted an award in honor and memory of Mary Lou Goss, a former Mirror employee who lost her lung cancer battle in February.
“Here was a fine lady, with the sunset of her life approaching, who cared more about the people she touched than herself,” Alcott wrote in an acceptance speech, which was read during the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association award ceremony on Friday.
The association awarded Goss the Dixie Lee Bradley award posthumously. The award comprises an engraved clock and $500, which will be used for the scholarship the Mirror set up in Goss’s honor.
It was a touching moment and a fitting tribute to the beloved wife, mother and coworker, Alcott said.
“As her time was coming to an end, you would never have known it,” he said.
Goss, only 57 when she died, worked at the Mirror for seven years, continuing her work throughout her battle and weekly rounds of chemotherapy. Goss worked through her pain because she was a dedicated employee who enjoyed her work.
“She left nothing on the table,” Alcott said.
Goss was the kind of employee who only needed to be asked once to complete a task. An employer could rest assured it would be done, Alcott said.
“The Mirror, Mirror staff and the Federal Way community became the focus Mary Lou needed to stay positive and live out a purposeful life,” the Goss family wrote in a statement, which was also read at the award ceremony. “We are sure she is continuing to smile down right now, beaming at your thoughtfulness for awarding her for, in reality, what she simply perceived as the proper way to act in the business world.”
Alcott renamed the newspaper’s conference room in honor of Goss, and the paper also started a scholarship foundation to further the challenge she regularly posed: “What would you do better?”
Goss’s question wasn’t suggestive of any slacking or wrongdoing, but was meant to encourage introspection and personal improvement.
The annual scholarship requires Decatur High School seniors to answer that same question. The winning essay receives $500 to help the student pursue higher education. The money can be used for any expenses.
“Mary Lou, even in death, continues to give,” Alcott wrote in the acceptance speech.
The scholarship is managed by a board of directors, many of whom are current Mirror employees. The foundation has enough money to provide the annual scholarship for five or six years, though Alcott hopes to build a reserve of 10 years, he said.
Donations can be sent to the Mary Louise Goss Educational Scholarship Fund c/o Federal Way Mirror, 31919 1st Ave S., Suite 101, Federal Way, WA 98003.
