Andrew Gordon

Andrew Gordon, Beloved Red Wing Resident, Passed Away February 18 at age 57

Andrew, a man with Down Syndrome, had a fulfilled and happy life and was loved by family, housemates, friends, and residents. Read on!

 He preferred to be called Andrew rather than Andy, much to his family’s chagrin. Don’t take shortcuts when calling on him. The name is Andrew!

 Andrew is survived by his father John Gordon and his partner Lorna Podvin, of Bloomington MN; sister Carron (Gordon) Kopren and brother-in-law Doug Kopren, of Sturgis, SD; and brother Mark Gordon and sister-in-law Deniese (White) Gordon, of Farmington, NM; and by many extended family members: his Aunt Alice of Amarillo, TX; Uncle Bob of Mt. Pleasant, IA, and many cousins who grew up playing with him in Texas and on the Willits family farm in Mt. Pleasant, IA.

Andrew was preceded in death by his mother Janet (Willits) Gordon, his Uncle Bill Cooke, Aunt Ruth Willits, and Cousin Joe Gordon, all of whom played extremely important roles in Andrew’s life. He and his mom are very likely enjoying heavenly pieces of pie at Andrew’s favorite pie restaurant, Perkins.

 Born in Texas in 1966, Andrew’s parents refused to follow the suggestions typical of doctors of the time and brought Andrew home to begin his life of love and nurturing. He attended public school and blossomed. His mother was a nurse at a hospital in Texas, and his brother Mark, in Junior High at the time, remembers riding his bike to the hospital to be with Andrew at the hospital’s children’s center during those formative years.

 After the family moved to Phoenix in 1973, Andrew’s amazing personality really started to shine. Mark was in high school then, and he remembers that when he took Andrew with him to run errands, he discovered that girls enjoyed talking to Andrew. Mark hesitates to call him a chick magnet, but, well…

 Carron remembers Phoenix as where Andy (she still calls him that!) discovered the freedom of the walkabout. He would wait until no one was watching and then take his walk.  The feeling of walking without anyone telling him which way to go or when to return home was a joy he carried into adulthood, when he would follow the sun as it dipped below the horizon!  Of course, this also provoked fear and guilt in the minds and hearts of his family and later, his staff, as he could be gone for hours! Police and strangers would be looking for him for an hour or more before he was found. But if you ask Andy, he was never lost! He also became an expert swimmer in the family pool, a skill he used at many water parks throughout his life.

 Moving to Des Plaines, IL, with the family in 1976, Andy had his first “gaggle” of neighborhood friends. Three or four children, ages 4-8 years, would knock on the door and ask, “Can Andy come out and play?” They would ride Big Wheels and they also enjoyed a round of “barbershop,” with Andy as the barber.  Using pretend scissors, he would cut off all their hair.  His customers would pretend to pay him “good money” for their haircut.

Two short years later, a move to Evergreen, CO, brought out the athlete in Andrew. An avid downhill skier in the Colorado Rockies (who needs poles?), Andrew was a regular at the Winter Park Ski Resort west of Denver. Carron reminisces: “Andy made a good friend in Jack, his ski instructor.   They would catch a chairlift and sing the song 3 blind mice until they were ready to get off.  Then, watch out!  Andy would bomb the hill and be back at the bottom of the ski run in no time with Jack hot on his heels!” Andrew became an expert hot-dog skier, with amazing control, all without poles! Mark became a pretty good skier as well and had a hard time keeping up!

 After two more moves, Andrew found himself in Minnesota with mom and dad. Now living in a state with excellent programs for people who are differently abled, he eventually moved into a group home in Red Wing, where his life became even more enriched. As an adult, he found a true home, his own home, in Red Wing. He chose his job and excelled at it, with expert help and supervision from his job coaches. The Red Wing Pottery Factory Showroom was the perfect place for him to combine his love of dusting and organizing pots, and his employer appreciated his thoroughness and was extremely supportive! It’s an amazing employer that will give a person a job that is meaningful to them. Andy has worked in many places in Goodhue County, including Treasure Island Casino and hotel, where he performed two jobs, putting playing cards in order in preparation resale, and preparing housekeeping carts. He developed good friendships with his co-workers. At home, he lived with roommates that added a great deal to his life, and he to theirs. His mom and dad lived rather close, and visited often, as did dad after mom passed away.

 One of Andrew’s favorite past times, short of watching “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Brady Bunch” (he loved Marcia – who didn’t?), listening to all kinds of great music, from classical to blues to Rock n’ Roll, or even taking his mates for pizza or pie at Perkins, was to have his dad sit with him on a park bench at a beautiful park in Red Wing, by the Mississippi River, to watch the barges and tugboats go by. He could spend hours doing that!

 Andy will be greatly missed, and his passing has left empty spaces in the hearts of his family, friends, group home staff, and many residents of Red Wing. We are all so blessed to have had him in our lives, and his loving spirit and “let’s do that” attitude (a favorite saying of his), lives on in each of us. Enjoy that pie you two!