Richard "Dick" Duane Gott

This world’s loss is heaven’s gain. Richard Duane Gott, “Dick”, went home to be with his personal Savior, Jesus, on October 11th, 2021. He was eighty-four years old.

Born on February 9th, 1937, he was a son of a high school history teacher and a stay-at-home mom; he was a little brother. He was a passionate boy who loved the outdoors, his dog and his family. He excelled in school and life and enjoyed a prosperous and successful future in the metallurgical field.

On June 3rd, 1956, Dick married his childhood sweetheart, Carolyn Higgins, and together they embarked on a lifelong journey. They would celebrate sixty-five years of marriage. Together, they raised three children, Jeffrey, Robert, and Michelle, and would become grandparents and great grandparents to a multitude of children. In 1984, Dick chose early retirement from Climax Molybdenum Company where he had been employed for much of his adulthood.

It wasn’t long before Dick and Carol were encouraged by a visiting missionary to step into their calling in prison ministry. They would initially begin leading Bible studies in Buena Vista Correctional Facility in 1983, which would soon evolve to many of Colorado prisons statewide, where they would lead weekly Bible studies and frequent seminars through Prison Fellowship, and then eventually, through their own prison ministry, In His Name. Dick would be too humble to share that in 2016, he and Carol received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for ‘their lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service’. He would also be too humble to mention the countless lives he touched, with whom he shared the love of Jesus Christ, and the incredible impact he had on everyone he met. His compassion for the incarcerated and those released to the outside was personal and transparent with those he cared for. Dick and Carol would honorably serve in prison ministry for thirty-seven years before his passing. In fact, on the day he passed, he would be found praying over others, sharing his faith, and living Jesus to those around him.

Dick is preceded in death by his parents, Cecil and Frances Gott, and brother Gene Gott. Dick is survived by his wife Carolyn Gott, his three children, Jeffrey (Darcy) Gott, Robert Gott and Michelle Gott (Peter) Kim, and a multitude of beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dick would want anyone to celebrate his passing as He now is in the presence of a Holy God. He is likely sitting at Jesus’ feet, avidly worshipping and undoubtedly amazed at his good fortune. He would want to invite you into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ if you don’t know Him, and for those who love the Lord, he will be overjoyed to meet all of us there with him in the Lord’s time. If you knew Dick, you were blessed. He will be greatly missed until we see him again.

A memorial service will be held Monday, October 25, 2021, at the Evangelical Free Church in Canon City, Colorado, at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, a charitable donation can be made in honor of Dick’s passion for prison ministry to Connections Prison Ministry, POB 64261, Colorado Springs, CO 80962, or Doing His Time, 4045 Wadsworth Blvd, Ste 310, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-4626. Any questions can be filtered to (970) 946-9933.

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