John F. Gould

PORT RICHEY, Fla. — John F. Gould, age 96, of Port Richey, passed away Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.

He was born Nov. 20, 1928, to Frank Gould and Viola Tietz Gould in Salamanca, N.Y. He moved to Florida permanently from Salamanca in January of 1997 with his wife, Barbara.

John enlisted with the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Yosemite. He remained in the reserves after he was discharged from active duty.

He worked for Luminite Corporation and for the New York State Department of Transportation. He was also an elected city alderman and served as mayor of Salamanca for several terms.

John married Dorothy Dietrich in 1951, and they had two sons, Ronald J. of Florida and Kevin M. (Carol) of Nantucket, Mass.

John enjoyed traveling the world with Barbara. Most memorable were their trips to Hawaii and Europe, the latter spanned many countries including the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland.

John was an avid boater and he was a lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills. He was a life member of the American Legion. John was a devout Christian who attended the First United Methodist Church of Hudson while living in Florida.

He is survived by his sons, Ronald J. Gould, Kevin (Carol) Gould and Edward Feichter; a daughter, Ann (William) Curry; three grandchildren, Tammy Gould (Wyatt) Berry, Christopher Gould and Aaron (Kathie) Gould; four step-grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Aside from his parents, John was predeceased by his sister, Phyllis Gould Gibson; his first wife, Dorothy; and his second wife, Barbara.

Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at the Wildwood Cemetery in Salamanca, with Deacon Michael Anderson of Our Lady of Peace Parish officiating. Full military honors will be conducted by members of the American Legion Hughes-Skiba Post 535 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars John F. Ahrens Post 5296.

Local funeral arrangements are under the direction of the O’Rourke & O’Rourke Inc. Funeral Home, 25 River St., Salamanca.