Obituary of Peggy Ann Goss

The family of Peggy Ann Goss sadly announces she passed away on July 26, 2026 at Hospice House, Fredericton, New Brunswick, after a courageous and determined three-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer.

She was born in Saint John, NB on January 29, 1950 to John E. and Betty Beatrice (Reid) Swanton.

Peggy’s early childhood years were spent in St. Stephen and Woodstock. Her family moved to Fredericton in 1959 and she entered grade 5 at Connaught Street School. There she quickly acquired a small circle of girlfriends, including her “Bestie for Life” Annalee (Tingley) Bartlett, girls whose bonds of friendship remained unshakeable and unbroken throughout all the ensuing decades of life’s challenges.

In the summer of 1967 Peggy met a boy - on a blind date, no less. He had the temerity to kiss her on their first date, as she noted with some astonishment in her diary. Three and a half years later she married him. They have been together ever since.

Peggy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from UNB in 1972. Peggy and Annalee formed a guitar-strumming, folk-singing duo and during their university years regularly appeared in UNB’s Red and Black Revue; they were very popular.

In 1974 Peggy and her husband traveled to London, England to pursue post-graduate studies. Peggy received a Master of Library Science degree from University College, London, in 1975. Both before and after her post-graduate studies Peggy worked in the UNB Library system, including heading up the Physics Library in the Science Department.

In 1976 Peggy moved with her husband to the Saint John region, taking up residence in what is now Quispamsis. Their first son, Anthony, was born in August 1977.

Sometime following Tony’s birth Peggy returned to work, this time as the Librarian for the Saint John Telegraph Journal/Evening Times Globe newspapers. She continued in this position for a few years, until the birth of her second son, Nicholas, in September of 1981.

Thereafter, and for the next 18 years, Peggy devoted her time, energy and attention to what she had always made clear was her true vocation in life: the raising, nurturing and development of her children into healthy, kind and generous human beings. She had her hands full…20 months after Nicholas was born, she gave birth to twins Alexander and Matthew.

In 1999, in a remarkable feat of resolve, determination and sheer grit, Peggy set out to rebuild her skill set as a Professional Librarian and return to work. There can be but few professions that would have been more impacted by those18 years of technological change and innovation. Almost everything about the profession was new and different. But she did it.

In August 1999 Peggy was hired as a Library Assistant at the Legislative Library of the NB Provincial Legislature. In April 2002 she was promoted to the position of Reference Librarian. She retired from that position in November of 2005, although she continued working at the Legislative Library doing temporary assignments for things like maternity leave relief for a few additional years.

In 1992, Peggy and her family moved back to Fredericton where they lived for the next 14 years. In 2006 they realized a long-held dream of building a home on the ocean near St. Andrews. Peggy designed and built this beautiful home on the water. There was nothing she could not accomplish when she put her mind to it.

In 2015 Peggy and her husband sold their St. Andrews home and returned to Fredericton, motivated primarily by their desire to be closer to their growing gaggle of granddaughters. If Peggy had one (minor) regret in life, it would be the fact that she never had a daughter of her own. Now fate has made it up to her, with four granddaughters who have been a central focus of her life for the last decade.

Since 2016 Peggy and her husband have, for a number of years, spent the winter months in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico; staying with a lovely Mexican family in their rental apartment high on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Peggy has said many times in recent months “I have had a wonderful life”. She meant it. It is true. She was the principal architect of that “wonderful life”, and she built it primarily for the benefit of those she loved; her family and her friends.

Peggy is survived and will be sorely missed by her husband of 55 years, William Goss, K.C.; her sons, Anthony (Kate), Nicholas, Alexander (Alicia) and Matthew; granddaughters, Tegan, Gracelyn, Amelia, and Zoe; brand-new grandson, Benjamin; brother, Ted (Tracy) of Calgary; sister-in-law, Janet Goss, as well as a number of cousins, nieces and nephews. And not least by her circle of dear, dear friends: Annalee Bartlett, Lynne Slipp, Margie Pacey, Jennifer Blackwood, Charlene Roxborough, Bev Constable, Sandy McNutt, and Grat Wennberg.

Many thanks to the Doctors and Nurses of the DECH Oncology Department who helped Peggy live a healthy and active life for as long as possible. A heartfelt thank you to the Nurses and staff of Fredericton Hospice House who made her comfortable in her last weeks.

There will be no visitation or funeral service. A Celebration of Life gathering for all who knew her will be held on Monday, August 10, 2026, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, at Kingswood Lodge, 1700 Kingswood Way, Hanwell NB.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society, Fredericton Hospice House Foundation, or a charity of the donor’s choosing would be much appreciated.