Davidson T. Gordon, 78, of Rye, N.Y., passed away on March 8, 2023 at Greenwich Hospital, after a short battle with aspiration pneumonia; he was surrounded by his four children in his final days.
Born on June 29, 1944, in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was the son of Dr. Christie Wilson Gordon and Robina Alice Munro.
After graduating from Fettes College in Edinburgh in 1962, he went on to study law at Birmingham University, receiving an LLB in 1965, before obtaining an LLM from University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1970.
He married Hazel Jean Cameron McLaren in 1971.
Professionally, his career included time with Coudert Brothers in New York, Freshfields in London, and American Express in New York. He spent the final two decades of his career working with former colleagues, who had started a boutique law firm that eventually merged with Day Pitney LLP. He retired in 2019.
Since moving to Rye in 1978, Mr. Gordon served as an active member of Rye Presbyterian Church, helped run and expand the Rye Youth Intramural Soccer Program, coached his son’s travel soccer teams, and served on the Rye City School District Board of Education for six years. He was particularly proud of his strong support for the successful effort to keep Milton School open in the 1980s.
His relocation to the United States was driven by his desire to provide greater opportunities for his family, but his love of Scotland never faded. Throughout his life he made sure his family spent time in the United Kingdom with family and friends. In his final decades, he spent weeks at a time there attending various reunions and visiting lifelong friends. “We are grateful for the connections our father helped keep strong and the times we spent golfing, hiking, and enjoying pints with family on the Isle of Arran,” said his children.
Mr. Gordon was predeceased by his wife Hazel in 1998. He is survived by his four children, Lorna Mary, Alexander, Ramsay, and Robert; five grandchildren, Oliver, Hazel, Penny, Alistair, and Audrey; his daughter-in-law, Erin, and two sons-in-law, Mark and Jeff.
A Funeral service will be held at Rye Presbyterian Church on April 5 at 2:30 p.m.
Donations in Davidson Gordon’s memory may be made to Friends of Rye Town Park or Rye Presbyterian Church.
