Ina Gordon

01/26/2006

Ina Gordon, 89, of Worcester and Great Barrington, died yesterday at the Jewish Healthcare Center in Worcester following a brief illness. Born in Worcester on April 1, 1916, daughter of the Phillip and Mary Rose, she lived there for 84 of her almost 90 years. She learned Yiddish as a first generation American, and delivered the 1934 valedictorian graduation address at Commerce High School in Worcester. She graduated from Boston University. Together with her husband, Haskell Gordon, who died in 1991, she was devoted to education, the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, and the Worcester Jewish community. Mrs. Gordon rarely missed a Tanglewood concert during the past 40 years. She loved the Berkshires, but especially enjoyed the music and everyone associated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Gordon was an active volunteer in a wide range of organizations. She was a member of Ahavath Sholom Synagogue in Great Barrington and Temple Emanuel in Worcester, where she was a past president of the Sisterhood. She was a "Lion of Judah" at the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts, a designation for those providing philanthropy and leadership to the organization. For over 20 years, she was on the board of Visiting Nurses Association and the Jewish Family Service of Worcester. In the 1960s, she taught herself to type Braille, and typed complete books for Braille Institute of America. She was also a calligrapher. In the 1990s, she became an active board member of the Council for the Arts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was also a member of the board of overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Worcester Music Festival. She and her husband endowed "The Ina and Haskell Gordon Scholarships" for students of Temple Emanuel in Worcester, MIT, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Their gifts helped create the Rose and Gordon Building at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, now part of the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Mary and Phillip Rose Diagnostic and Research Center at St. Vincent's Hospital, now part of Worcester Medical Center; Phillip and Mary Rose Chapel at Temple Emanuel; the Pre-kindergarten Nursery in Cholon, Israel, and the Haskell and Ina Gordon Courtyard at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, in Lenox. She leaves a daughter, Susan R. Gordon of Natick; two sons, Gary V. Gordon of Haverford, Pa., and Lawrence A. Gordon of Southborough; a brother, Sidney Rose of Worcester; seven grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. FUNERAL NOTICE -- Funeral services for Ina Gordon, who died Jan. 26, 2006, will be held at noon on Friday, Jan. 27, at Temple Emanuel, 280 May St., Worcester. Following internment at B'nai Brith Cemetery, Worcester, memorial observance will be held at the home of Jane and Larry Gordon, 39 Presidential Drive, Southborough through 5 p.m., and Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. Remembrances may be made to the Ina and Haskell Gordon Fund, Council for the Arts at MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave. E15-205, Cambridge, MA 02139, or to a charity of the donor's choice. PERLMAN FUNERAL HOME, 1026 Main St., Worcester, is directing funeral arrangements.

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