Thomas McMillan Gordon Sr.'s Obituary
Sept. 19, 1929 - Dec. 22, 2016 Age 87, a native and a long time resident of Mobile, AL passed away on Thursday, December 22, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Gordon and Mary Louise Bush. He is survived by his loving wife of 21 years, Nancy Turner Gordon, children, Thomas (Ania) Gordon, Jr., Glo Elizabeth Gordon, Mary Jo Gordon (Pat) Dowd, Michell Seall, 3 grandchildren, Taylor Chavez, Lauren Gordon, Kendall Gonzales, nieces and nephews, Curtis Preston Gordon, Alice (Bobbi) Hawks, Ann Louise Gordon Loder, great nieces and nephews, other relatives and many friends. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 12 noon in Serenity Event Center, with visitation from 11 am until service time. A family graveside service will be held in his family settlement cemetery, Old Springhill Cemetery.Thomas Gordon Sr was born in Mobile, Alabama Sept 19, 1929. Son of William and Mary Louise Gordon, he had 3 brothers and one sister. Tom spent his youth in the Mobile area, and his teenage years living at the Mauvila Mansion on Dauphin St. which his mother owned and operated as a boarding house. After high school he spent time as an iron worker and was soon drafted into the Korean war. Given his iron working experience, he was placed into the army engineers, and once his leadership skills were noticed quickly earned his sergeant stripes. After the war Tom took advantage of the GI bill and graduated from the University of Alabama in accounting, at the top of his class. Kaiser Aluminum recruited him from U of A and they moved to Baton Rouge, where his son Thomas Gordon Jr. was born. Kaiser then transferred Tom to Valparaiso, Indiana where his two daughters, Glo Elizabeth Gordon and Mary Jo Gordon were born. After a couple more transfers he was offered an opportunity to join the commencement of operations for Kaiser on the island of Jamaica. There he worked as plant controller for 7 years. In 1974 Tom was transferred to Oakland California and worked as a financial analyst at Kaiser HQ for the next 15 years. The Jamaica factory had been mothballed in the interim, and given the world supply of aluminum Tom made an investment presentation to the CEO encouraging them to restart the operation. After the presentation, the exec team thanked Tom - and then asked him to move back to Jamaica to execute his plan as the General Manager. He was shocked, but accepted! Tom worked in Jamaica again until 1990, when he decided it was time to retire and move back to his home, Alabama. There he rekindled many old friend and family relationships. Tom enjoyed fishing, but even more taking his friends and acquaintances out on his boat in the Gulf and all of the social aspects that went along with it. Soon after he retired Tom met Nancy, who became Nancy Gordon in 1995. Tom and Nancy spent the next 20 fun filled years together living in both Fort Morgan and Daphne Alabama. Many of the closest friends of his life were made during this time. Tom has been an inspiration to many along the way, and some have even credited his counsel to their success. He was a great husband, father, and friend.
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