by President of Hickory Chair held various executive roles at the high end of the industry for many years
HICKORY, N.C. — Steven Parker Goss, a lifelong furniture industry veteran described as a great father, husband, friend and colleague, died June 18. He was 63.
Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1960, he studied business administration and management at Indiana University at Bloomington and also received a bachelor of science in business administration at the University of Texas in Dallas.
He was most recently president of Hickory Chair in Hickory, North Carolina, part of the Rock House Farm family of brands that also includes Century, Hancock & Moore, Highland House and Maitland-Smith, to name several well-recognized high-end furniture manufacturers.
Starting in 1989 through May 1997, he was a territory manager for Highland House and later was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing, a role he held for another six and a half years.
He then moved on to Southern Furniture Co., where he was vice president of sales for nearly five years.
In April 2008, he returned to Highland House as vice president of sales. He held that role for about seven months before becoming president in October 2008, a position he held for the next six years before moving on to become vice president of merchandising for Henredon and Drexel Heritage.
He became vice president and brand director at Hickory Chair in February 2018 then became vice president of merchandising in early 2018, a role he held for nearly five years before being named president in November 2022.
Several shared thoughts and condolences on his Dignity Memorial page online.
Here are several of those posts.
“Parker stopped by my house on his motorcycle a few months ago and hopped on my bike to fire it up; I am so glad I got this picture of him sitting on it. Parker was a special man, and a special friend. He was someone all of us should strive to be more like.”
— Kevin Bowman
“Parker was a genuine good-hearted man that you never had to question his integrity. At HC we had many casual conversations that impressed me with his knowledge and understanding. He will be dearly missed by all that got to know him. I will be thinking of his family in this hard time. RIP Parker.”
— Mary Long
“Parker was an all-around awesome guy. He genuinely cared and took the time to talk with each of us. I will miss his smiling face and how he could bring laughter to a room. My prayers go out to the family during this difficult time.”
— Betsy Huffman
“While I first met Parker through my organization’s business relationship with Hickory Chair, I quickly grew very fond of him and thoroughly enjoyed our working relationship and our personal friendship. I knew him to have enormous integrity, heart, intelligence and creativity. I will miss him very much from a professional standpoint but much more profoundly from a personal one. My deepest sympathies are with his family.”
— Kristin DeMesse
“Parker will be greatly missed. Parker was a wonderful person. He was generous, kind, thoughtful, supportive, bright, hard-working and successful. Parker served his role very well as president of Hickory Chair. It was a pleasure working with him. I wish the extended family and friends comfort and peace with the loss of our beloved Parker.”
— Jean Yackenovich
“Prayers for the family at this stressful time. I worked with Parker at Hickory Chair and had a lot of conversations with him. He had a great friendly demeanor about him. He was a wonderful man to be around. God bless the family with his peace that only God can.”
— Michael Whittington
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the Parker Goss family. I worked with Parker at Highland House furniture in 2000 through 2003. A great man and well liked. Very knowledgeable and fun to work with. Rest in peace.
— Willie Cockrell
The family will receive friends from 4:30 to 5:35 p.m. June 29 at Drum Funeral Home at 940 29th Ave. NE, in Hickory, North Carolina. A memorial service will follow at 6 p.m.
