William John Gordon

Bill’s parents both came from Ireland, then met and married in Philadelphia in 1908. They lived at 6056 Reinhard Street, a block east of Mount Moriah Cemetery, and it was the only address either of his parents would ever know. Bill’s father was also named William, and he was working in 1910 as a steamfitter. 

In 1917 the federal government built a shipyard at Hog Island on the Delaware River, and Bill Sr. was a pipefitter there. (Sandwiches that were made for those who worked there may be the origin of the name “hoagie.”) By 1920, the family grew to include two daughters, Marian and Margaret, and another son, Charles. 

Ten years later, the father changed jobs to work at the Atlantic oil refinery and his oldest son entered the workforce as a “blueprinter.” He and hundreds of others were at the General Electric switchgear plant at 69th and Elmwood, which opened in 1924. It was a good job in an insecure economy, so he was still there in 1940. But there was sadness when the family buried Charles at Mount Moriah in 1938 after his heart failed, and his father died from pneumonia in 1943.

Bill registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, revealing he was a small fellow at 5’ 5” tall and weighing 145 pounds. But it was two years later that two big events altered the course of his life. First came marriage to Elizabeth Von Zech on October 9, then the “Greetings” letter from Uncle Sam on the 26th. He became an Army private on November 9. Nine months later he became a father to their daughter, Gail.

After basic training he shipped out for foreign service on May 27, 1943. A year later Pvt. Gordon was hit by machine gun fire, suffering a compound fracture of his forearm. He returned stateside on August 1, 1944. Where he was stationed and for how long aren’t known. The next event on his record was being admitted again for medical attention. When and why aren’t known but most likely it wasn’t related to his broken arm. This time he ended up in Washington, D.C. at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

He died there July 6, 1945 but a death certificate has not been located. It was another tragedy for his sisters who had just buried their mother, Margaret, six months earlier. Their parents had selected a plot in 1938 for Charles in Section E, and that’s where they intended to be buried. Bill’s wife chose a separate location for her husband, placing the stone shown above over his grave in Section K.