Virginia Nadine Gordon

Nadine passed away peacefully May 16, 2023 after a beautiful Mothers Day and family vigil. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Jo Elaine, and husband Kennith Glenn Gordon.

Nadine is survived by her sons Kenny and wife Deanna, son Mark and wife Camille and son Mike and wife Marybeth. She is survived by 12 grandchildren and their spouses; Matthew, Sara, Nicole and husband Tanner, Joshua, Rachel, Teresa and husband Luke, Amanda and husband Erik, finally Mathew and wife Elizabeth. She is survived by her great-grandchildren Phoebe, Eli, Ezra, William, Linley, and Scottie Ray.

Nadine's childhood was very much the product of pre and post WWII era challenges in a peaceful rural farm community in middle America. She was cut from working cloth. She witnessed and embodied the morals of discipline, hard work, thriftiness, personal commitment, responsibility, and unwavering love; values she got from her loving parents. She was smart, excelled in school, raised award-winning hogs in 4H and played women's varsity basketball. She was a youthful blend of Tom-Boy toughness, simple beauty, and a kindred spirit that could make anyone feel loved and welcomed with just her smile and gentle kindness.

Nadine attended college at Iowa State, earning a Bachelors of Science in Medical Technology. She had a natural love for laboratories and biological sciences. She continued her academic studies at Florida State University, where she studied microbiology.

Nadine met and married Kennith on December 28, 1957. She embraced her new son Kenny, son from Kennith’s first marriage, and raised him as her own. Nadine and Kennith had three additional children; Jennifer, Mark and Mike.

During her early married life, she experienced challenges that would break the will of many. After successfully finishing her degrees, she was balancing a full time career and raising her kids when Kennith was injured in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, which sent him into critical condition for 6 months with severe head injuries and a shattered body. His recovery would take the rest of his life, and challenge Nadine to take on the personal commitment of being a life-long, full time caregiver of a brain injury survivor. This, while still working full time as a research Scientist and Engineer at the University of TEXAS Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas, and then later at Balcones Research Center in Austin, Texas. She carried this burden on her shoulders for 57 Years of committed and loving marriage, until the passing of Kennith in 2014.

During this time Nadine also endured and led her family through the painful loss of her first child Jennifer, who died of Leukemia at age 23. She grieved deeply, as only a mother can, but never missed a beat with her care of Kennith and the raising of her sons.

As her children started to marry, Nadine seamlessly shifted gears to mother-in-law, then grandmother and finally great-grandmother. She never missed the events of her kids and extended family, and always stayed connected to her own siblings Steve, Jo Elaine, and Greg and their families; all of whom she loved so deeply.

After her 30-year career with the University of Texas, she retired to start her second career as Grand Matriarch of the Gordon family. Nadine traveled extensively with the sister she loved, helped her sons and daughters-in-law embrace the morals and character she got from her parents, and was an unwavering supporter of her grandkids; whom she adored and supported in all endeavors.

Beyond her family, Nadine was a faithful member of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Austin, Texas, serving many years as the Sr. Warden of her Parish Leadership team. She worked tirelessly as a board of directors’ member for the Austin Girls Choir, and became the best marathon canoe racing Team Captain in the world.

Always putting others before self, Nadine led and loved unconditionally with a servant’s heart and immeasurable kindness. She leaves a legacy for her family and friends to shepherd into the future. She was a shining light in their lives. For the last decade of her life, Nadine consistently expressed how lucky she was to have the family and friends she did. But it was they who were the lucky ones. Nadine was a good shepherd of God’s grace through her unending love for everyone.