Violet Rebecca (Jackson) Gordon, 92, of Meadowlakes died May 2, 2015
Violet Rebecca (Jackson) Gordon, 92, passed away May 2, 2015, at her home in Meadowlakes.
Born in Victoria, Texas, to William and Evelina Jackson, she was the eighth of 10 children. She spent most of her childhood in Moody, Texas, graduating from Moody High School in 1941. She worked for one year before attending Blinn College.
During World War II, she moved to Washington, D.C., and was secretary to Brig. Gen. William Rose, chief of executive services of the War Manpower Commission. When her father passed away, she returned to
Texas and worked for the Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant in McGregor. She then enrolled at North Texas State University in Denton, where she received a degree in business administration.
She met her future husband, John Morgan Gordon, at North Texas while he was studying theater and speech. They married on Dec. 31, 1949. They were married for nearly 55 years when he passed away in October of 2004.
During their marriage, she worked as a business administration teacher at Panola Country College and Stephen F. Austin University. She was also a pioneer in talk radio shows, hosting the show “Listen Ladies” in Nacogdoches, Texas, before starting a family. John’s career with Western Auto Supply took them from Corpus Christi to Houston to the Kansas City area, where they remained until John took an early retirement.
While rearing her three daughters, she was always active in Girl Scouts, Garden Club, church activities and bridge clubs. As she approached middle age, she fell in love with the game of golf and continued to play until her arthritis severely diminished her driving distance when she was 88 years old.
After John’s first retirement, John and Violet moved to Pittsburg, Kansas, and purchased Countryside Golf Club, which they operated for 10 years. After selling the golf course, they looked for a retirement home in Texas, where they hoped to never see snow again. Their main criterion for a new home was that it was in a golf course community. They felt fortunate to find a home in Meadowlakes.
In recent years, she was an active member of the Highland Lakes Garden Club, of which she was several times elected as president; First United Methodist Church and its United Methodist Women; and the Women’s 18-hole golf group at Hidden Falls Golf Club.
Surviving her are her daughters, Rebecca Spencer and husband Douglas of Meadowlakes, Janet Leigh and husband Dick of Polebridge, Montana, and Sandra Hannon and husband Philip of Shawnee, Kansas. Also, she is survived by grandchildren, Amanda Powell and husband Adam of Morristown, New Jersey, Jonathan Spencer and wife Kristina of Midlothian, Derek Hannon and wife Rebecca of Loveland, Colorado, and Trevor Hannon of Shawnee, Kansas.
She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and all nine of her siblings and their spouses.
Visitation is 5-7 p.m. May 7 at Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home, 1805 U.S. 281 in Marble Falls, (830) 693-4373. A funeral service is 11 a.m. May 8 at First United Methodist Church of Marble Falls.