My Uncle Gordon passed away on May 4, and with his memorial services today I’ve been reflecting on my connections to him through the years.
When I was young, our family used to make the long drive from Portland, Oregon to Southern California to visit my Mom’s parents, Grandma and Grandpa Norman. While in California, we usually stayed with Aunt Jean (Mom’s sister) and Uncle Gordon and all our Taylor cousins. They later told us that they called us their “Disneyland Cousins” because even though we could climb the huge Jacaranda tree in their front yard to watch the Disneyland fireworks at night, they usually only actually got to go to the park when we were in town to visit.
Just a few months after returning to BYU after my mission, Jean and Gordon moved from California to Provo, Utah, in a neighborhood just north of the Provo temple. It was apparently just in time, because I noted in my journal that Alan and I were using their driveway to try to fix the water pump in my car within a week of them having moved in. Jean and Gordon played the role for me that Shannon and I have in more recent years played for college-student nieces and nephews: local family to share some time and a good meal with occasionally, not to mention providing a place to store some boxes when going home for the summer. It says something that of the maybe four phone numbers I have in my head, their Provo home’s number is one of them.
Part of that also owes to it being my phone number for a while, since when Jean and Gordon went on their mission together, they let my good friend Sang Kim and I move into their basement while we wrapped up our schooling. That I lived there had some influence on getting to know Shannon. The rest of our student ward lived in the King Henry apartments, so when there were activities and events around the complex, Sang and I spent the in-between times in girls’ apartments rather than driving back home.
As Shannon and I entered our early marriage years, Jean’s health didn’t always allow her to be as involved, but Uncle Gordon attended our family events, baby blessings, baptisms, piano recitals and through to Gerrit’s wedding reception a couple of years ago. Shannon and I have lived our married life away from our parents, so Gordon was a nearby family tie and support.
It is thanks to my uncle that I know the Portuguese word paralelepípado. We both served missions in Brazil, so he would always greet me with “Como vai?” and occasionally quiz me on somewhat obscure vocabulary words. He was a real pioneer of the gospel in Brazil. When he arrived (by ship!) there were only 26 missionaries in the country. There are now more than that many missions in Brazil.
He was a warm and caring man who will be missed.