Christopher R. Goess ’72 Endowed Scholarship

Chris Goess was born in 1950 the third child of Frederick and Patricia Goess, who went on to have seven more children, a total of ten, seven boys and three girls. Though Chris never married, he was blessed with 19 nieces and nephews and at the time of this gift, had 12 grand nieces and nephews, with two more on the way.

Chris was essentially a first-generation college student, and the first male Goess family member to graduate from an institution of higher learning, Iona, as three of his fraternal aunts had graduated from colleges. His father left college after a few months and married his mother in 1947 and while his eldest brother attended St. Lawrence University, he left after his first year to join the army.

While a student, Chris worked in the summers for Prudential Saving Bank from 1968 to 1972 as teller, platform assistant, and vault attendant. Upon graduating in 1972 he worked in various bank departments ending up in accounting. Following a merger, he became Assistant Comptroller in the accounting department of Emigrant Savings Bank until 1981 when he left to determine what he really wanted to do in his professional career.

Chris returned, however, accepting a role in accounting as Assistant Vice President of the NY branch of a Danish Bank in 1982 and was later recruited to a Finish Bank by his former supervisor. As Comptroller and IT Assistant Vice President, he immediately traveled to Helsinki to learn their banking software leading to a decade of successful leadership and promotion to Vice President.

Another merger, of two Finish Banks formed Merita Bank in 1995 and Chris was one of only three out of 97 employees to be offered a position. Chris petitioned for a severance package and departure, but was encouraged to stay because of his critical understanding of vital accounting and operations procedures. He accepted and served for a year, but ultimately informed his leadership that he would be attending the Beautification Ceremony of Edmund Rice the founder of the Irish Christian brothers, presided over by Pope John Paul II. He informed his supervisor that he would not be returning after the trip.

Returning home from Italy, he took temporary roles consulting for his previous colleagues, before accepting a leadership position with DZ Bank (1997-2002) and then German banks Eurohypo later absorbed into Commerzbank (2002 to 2014) as Vice President and Director in the Accounting department. When this bank dissolved in 2014, Chris decided the time was right to retire at age 64.

Chris took this time to travel across the U.S. and Europe, visiting family and friends, and just exploring. Chris also served actively on his community HOA board and was elected President of the HOA in 2015 and served for ten years.