Gordon, John

GORDON, John Samuel

Major John Samuel Gordon, 84, surrounded by his books, gently passed in Springfield, Ohio on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. He was born on December 3, 1938, in Crooksville, Ohio.

John was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Anne (Freilich) Gordon; parents, Harry (Bud) and Carolyn (Ky) Gordon; sister, Kay Frances Gordon (Donald) Kemerer; SIL, Debbie (Mast) Gordon and nephew John Fredrick Roberts.

He is survived by his brother, James Douglas (Becca) Gordon; BIL, John (Pam) Freilich, and nieces: Lisa Rae Kemerer (Jim) Wirkner, Jill Ranee Kemerer (John) Roberts, Ky Leigh Gordon (Jim) Davis, and his nephews: Eric Gordon Kemerer, Christopher Shane (Barb) Kemerer and Timothy Allan (Tammy) Gordon, and all their kids & grandkids.

John was a 1956 graduate of McCluney High School, Crooksville, Ohio and graduated in 1961 from Ohio University with a BS as a Mechanical Engineer. John also graduated from Ohio State University with a MS in Electrical Engineering Mgt, and PhD graduate in fault tolerant computing. (He quoted: "The cafeteria food at OSU was much better than OU's.) John worked at Western Union, teaching digital system diagnostic testing on an atomic explosion detection system and Bell Labs in Columbus, Ohio, then married Beth Anne (chemistry major at OSU) on his birthday in 1969. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he worked at Goodyear Aerospace and taught at DeVry Institute, teaching advanced level courses.

In 1974 at age 35, he joined the USAF and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, working with communication/electronics on AIR FORCE ONE. He was a USAF Officer, experienced with system acquisition, air-to-air missile guidance testing and GPS testing. After being stationed at many AF bases throughout the U.S., including Wright Patt AFB, teaching MS level courses at the AF Institute of Technology in operating, database, communication systems and fiber optics, John retired his Air Force career, October 1994, at Holloman AFB (White Sands) in Alamogordo, New Mexico. In between two retirements from the USAF, he attended the Scottsdale Culinary Arts Institute in Arizona. After the 2nd, he was employed at H&R Block nine years as an enrolled agent and volunteered for several years at "Books Revisited," a bookstore in Alamogordo. A voracious reader, with a fiction addition, John also had a zest for the athletic life, including backpacking, hiking, tandem-bicycling, running marathons, technical rock climbing, sailing, ballooning and playing basketball. After many years of racing & showing dogs, he entrusted his last, favorite greyhound "Maddie" to his grandniece Lindsay.

With his nephew Jim W., he shared a love of mushrooms, anxiously awaiting the next hunting season for wild mushrooms; morels, his favorite. On March 10, 2023, John had his last happiest of smiles when he finally met his great, great nephew from Texas: John Douglas Wirkner, (9 months.)

Because he was a kind gentleman, an Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and a Christian, John will be deeply and sadly missed by his family and friends scattered across the United States.

The LITTLETON & RUE FUNERAL HOME is serving the family. Expressions of sympathy may be shared by visiting www.littletonandrue.com.

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