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Elizabeth Rose Browne Gordon ’50

Elizabeth Rose Browne Gordon ’50, May 27, 2007, in Irvine, California, from liver cancer. Betty entered Reed at the suggestion of Robert M. Gordon ’49, after both had served in World War II—she as a sergeant in the U.S. Women's Army Corps, with a tour of duty in New Guinea, and he in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The couple met in 1939, at a meeting of the Ephebian Society in Los Angeles and married in 1947. Their honeymoon at the Oregon coast during spring break was made more memorable because of the long papers both needed to complete that week. Robert's lovely reminiscence of their meeting and years together describes Betty's life as a long, full, and varied one, with many adventures. The couple moved to New Haven, Connecticut (while Robert attended Yale University), to California, and even to New Zealand. Betty supported the three children and their schools, performed on stage and assisted off stage for local theatre productions; camped; entertained; played bridge; and, in Robert's words, “read, read, read, and passed that love of story and structure and words and exploration on to her children.” Betty, says Robert, was practical and spirited; one who took pleasure in being a neighbor, a community member, and a Democrat; in getting to know people, learning something new, making friends, hearing new stories, and enjoying a good laugh.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2007