Date published: 3/3/2008

George L. Gordon

George Loyall Gordon Jr. passed away at home on March 1, 2008.
Mr. Gordon was born at North Garden, Albemarle County on Nov. 25, 1918. He
was the son of George Loyall Gordon Sr. and Sarah Travers Anderson Gordon of
Albemarle. When Mr. Gordon was a year old, his family moved from Albemarle
to Stafford County where the elder Mr. Gordon, a civil engineer, became
county surveyor. He held this position until his death in 1952. Mr. Gordon's
mother taught school and worked with the Stafford County Welfare Board.
During his younger years, George L. Gordon Jr. was educated at home and then
attended the Stafford public schools. In later years, he received a degree
from the University of Virginia. While the younger Mr. Gordon was still a
young boy, his family moved to a farm on Bell's Hill Road just north of
Stafford Courthouse.
To support themselves during the Depression, the Gordons raised and sold
strawberries on their farm. When he was old enough to get a job, Mr. Gordon
went to work helping to build roads in the northern part of the county. He
also helped his father survey land in Stafford, gaining valuable knowledge
of the county as he did so. Mr. Gordon soon left the road crew and went to
work as clerk of the Fredericksburg Stock Yards.
In 1942, at the age of 23, Mr. Gordon became Commissioner of the Revenue for
Stafford. At that time there were only two paved roads in the county. Until
the early 1970s, when Mr. Gordon was allowed to hire a few assistants, he
did all the real estate and personal property tax assessments by himself. In
the mid-1980s, Mr. Gordon computerized the land tax records in his office
and helped M.C. Moncure do the same in the treasurer's office. During his
early years as commissioner, he spent much time in the various county stores
where he completed state and federal tax returns for hundreds of residents,
many of whom were unable to read or write. He continued doing returns, free
of charge, until he retired in 1999. While doing so, he talked to residents
about their memories of Stafford's history and, over time, became a
compendium of the county's oral history. To this he added an encyclopedic
knowledge of the county's land records and for much of his life was the
primary source of information about Stafford County history.
Mr. Gordon was the longest-standing elected official in the history of
Virginia. Mr. Gordon continued to reside in his old family home on Bell's
Hill Road where he raised cattle and farmed. Mr. Gordon was predeceased by
his parents and a brother, Harper Anderson Gordon.
He is survived by family members and friends, Mrs. Catherine Moncure, George
V. Moncure V, John E. Moncure, James A. Moncure, Karen O. Moncure, Sarah A.
Moncure, Anna M. Moncure, and Jerrilynn Eby MacGregor
A funeral will he held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at Aquia Episcopal
Church with Mr. Cuthbert Mandell officiating and Mr. Jay Morris assisting.
Interment will follow in the Aquia Church cemetery. Visitation will be from
6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.
Pallbearers will be Mark R. Berg, Holmes Ives, Scott A. Mayausky, Benjamin
Pezzlo, Robert Rivers, George V. Moncure V, James A. Moncure and John E.
Moncure. Honorary pallbearers will be Daniel M. Chichester, Alaric R.
MacGregor III, Thomas M. Moncure Sr., Jesse Sullivan and Leroy W. Sullivan.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Mary Washington
Hospice, 5012 Southpoint Parkway, Fredericksburg, Va. 22407.
 

Contributed by Sarah Reveley