Shirley B. Goss, 85; was librarian

Shirley Bender Goss, 85, of Huntingdon Valley, a former Philadelphia public school librarian, died of heart failure Thursday, July 28, at Abington Memorial Hospital.

Born in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia, Mrs. Goss graduated from Simon Gratz High School in 1941 and attended evening classes in journalism at Temple University in the early 1940s.

A daughter, Carol Goss, wrote in biographical notes that during World War II, Mrs. Goss wrote movie listings for the Philadelphia Record, a daily newspaper that closed in 1947.

Mrs. Goss was a librarian at the Samuel Pennypacker School from 1967 to 1969, at the Horatio B. Hackett and Miller Schools in the 1970s, and at the Birney School in the 1980s and 1990s. She retired in 1991.

She was a counselor at Spring House Country Day Camp from 1966 to 1971.

"She also enthusiastically participated in Miller School/Norris Square Neighborhood Project programs designed to expose inner-city children to nature and the outdoors, many for the first time," her daughter wrote.

"A dedicated member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers who believed deeply in the rights of workers," Mrs. Goss picketed during PFT strikes, her daughter wrote.

She was a member of the Sholom Aleichem Club and was a board member of the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia.

Besides her daughter Carol, Mrs. Goss is survived by a son, David; daughters Susan and Jacquelyn; and two granddaughters. Her husband of 59 years, Warren, died last year.

A memorial service has been set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at Abington Friends Meeting, 520 Meetinghouse Rd., Jenkintown.