Jacques A. Gordon Jr.

Jack was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1921. Growing up in the 1920s and ‘30s, he worked several jobs on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, including one that involved caring for circus elephants. He competed on his high school swim team and remained a strong swimmer most of his life. After graduation in 1939 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was immediately sent to the Rising Sun School of Aviation in Philadelphia. He shipped out to Iceland in December 1941 as an aircraft mechanic with the 33rd Pursuit Squadron. Later, as a crew chief with the 27th Air Transport Group, he was stationed in Ireland, England and finally France, moving aircraft and supplies to American forces all over Europe. After leaving the Army in 1945 he traveled to Clark Field in Angles, near Manila in the Philippine Islands. Working as a civilian aircraft mechanic, he partnered with three other Americans in owning and operating The Piccadilly Corner Club, a popular watering hole right outside the air base. He returned to the Philadelphia area in 1947, where he met and eventually married the love of his life, Marian (Toni). Jack’s career continued in the aircraft industry with Piasecki Helicopter, which became Vertol Helicopter and eventually Boeing Helicopter. In the 1960s and early ‘70s he was Manager of the Production Flight Test Department, eventually retiring in 1986 as Plant Manager of Boeing Helicopter Ridley Park. He was one of the founding members and curators of the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester. His interest in aviation and particularly the aircraft he helped create, the Chinook helicopter, continued to his last days. Jack’s marriage to Toni lasted until her passing at the age of 99 in 2017. He adopted Toni’s son and daughter from her first marriage, and together they had two more sons. They began to travel in the early 1970s after the kids were grown and gone, visiting Mexico, Panama, Ireland, England, Nova Scotia and Western Canada, as well as visiting family in several parts of the United States. In retirement, Jack became active in his church community, CC Hancock Methodist, and he found more time for something he dearly loved: golf. By the time he had to give it up in the late 1980s, he was shooting his age. He outlived all of his golfing buddies and all of his other friends too, but in his last years he found new friends in his neighbors and their dogs as they came to visit him on the front porch of the house in Springfield where he lived since 1961. At the end, at 101 years old, he was more than ready to go be with his beloved Toni. Jack was preceded in death by daughter June and is survived by three sons, Jay (Monica), Jacques (Marie) and Mike (Laurie), and five grandchildren; Melanie Fortino (Jim O'Connor), Stacie Pearson (Paul) , Laura Lutton (Marc Coe), Stewart McLean (Michelle) and Jackson. Also survived by 2 great grandchildren; Pierson and Paige McLean. Visitation: Tuesday, 10:00 AM at Williams Lombardo Funeral Home 33 W. Baltimore Avenue Clifton Heights. Service: Tuesday, 11:00 AM at Williams Lombardo Funeral Home. Interment: Edgewood Memorial Park Celebration of Life to be held May 4, 2023 6: 00 PM at Anthony’s Ristorante 865 W. Springfield Road Springfield. Please RSVP mg@mariegordon.com In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to a Veteran's organization or your charity of choice. Condolences: www.lombardofuneralhomes.com

Jacques A. Gordon Jr.

August 24, 1921 - April 7, 2023