Obituary of John Robert Meehan Gordon
JOHN ROBERT MEEHAN GORDON
1935 – 2020
Affectionately known as JRMG, John was an air force brat. By the time his parents, Bus and Clarice, had moved to Edmonton John was 9 and had moved every year to a new city and a different school. He had had enough. When his mother discovered that he had not turned up to his classes in Edmonton on several occasions she decided he needed a more permanent place to learn. John was sent to boarding school at TCS in Port Hope. For him it became his home away from home. He thrived there making many lifelong friends.
When his parents moved to Vancouver John enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering at UBC. It was here that he discovered his talent for teaching, coaching many of his classmates along the way. Virginia came into his life then and after graduation they were married.
John decided to pursue a career in education which led him and his young family to many interesting places around the world. He taught at RMC in Kingston while completing his MBA at Queen’s, then moved to Boston, where he earned his PhD at MIT, then to London, Ontario where he taught at Western, and on to Switzerland, where he taught at IMEDE in Lausanne. The family finally settled back in Kingston where John taught at Queen’s School of Business, becoming Dean in 1978. He taught as a visiting scholar at universities all over the world, and started the MBA for Science & Technology Program at Queen’s, of which he was Chair for several years. John retired from Queen’s in 2005, although he continued to teach for a number of years thereafter.
John played a leadership role in retirement, joining a group of business friends to start an organization called RELIKS (retired executives living in Kingston), championing and mentoring emerging entrepreneurs in the area. He also conceived the Kingston Ventures Study Tour to expose students to business opportunities in Kingston.
Love of sports was in the family DNA. John was a champion swimmer at TCS, a tennis player, adequate golfer, good skier, and a football player. He was an ardent Queen’s Golden Gaels supporter in both good times and bad, being a season ticket holder for many years. He continued attending practices and games until last year.
His three children, Jane, Charles and Ian followed in his footsteps at Queen’s as did two of his seven grandchildren, KD and Jason Dale. Declan and Finn Reilly-Gordon, and Olivia, Emma and Sophie Gordon chose their own paths but all were inspired by their grandfather and his passion for learning. He will be deeply missed by each and every one of them.
We are grateful for the nurses and staff at Providence Continuing Care for the attention and compassion they showed John in his last weeks; to Dr. Michelle Gibson for her expertise with John as a patient and in her role as an educator with the students who followed John in his role with the Queen’s School of Medicine First Patient Program; to Michael from CBI Nursing whose skilled assistance in helping John at home was invaluable; and, to Dr. Brian Farnell, whose support over the years has been appreciated beyond measure.
A reception commemorating John will be held at a later date. Please consider a donation to the Dean’s Innovation Fund at the Smith School of Business at Queens University or to the Community foundation of Kingston & Area.
