Owen L. “Lee” Gossett (Redding ’57)
Posted: June 14, 2026
Lee was born January 18, 1939, in Simla, CO. He passed away on February 21, 2026, at age 87 in Central Point, OR.
Lee grew up in Central Point, where he graduated from Crater HS in 1958. He attended Shasta Junior College and Southern Oregon University.
He was an E-4 mechanic in the US Army.
Lee lived an extraordinarily adventurous life. As a teenager in 1957, he rookied at the Redding base, jumping at RDD in 1958 as well. Later, he jumped at Fairbanks (1960-61, 1963) and Cave Junction (1962).
In 1963, he joined Air America (a CIA-affiliated airline) in Laos as a cargo handler, taking on high-risk work in a conflict zone. He also worked for the Continental Air Service. As a pilot for the intelligence community, Lee was fearless.
Over his career, Lee also worked as a crop duster, ski-plane pilot, lead-plane pilot, and air-tanker pilot.
Even though he retired in 2004, Lee still enjoyed flying to the Idaho wilderness in the summer months from his home in Central Point.
In 2011, Lee was inducted into the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor. And in 2020, he published Smokejumper to Global Pilot, a True Odyssey.
