Obituary of Gordon C Sheldon

Name: Gordon C. Sheldon Date of Death: Saturday, May 26, 2007 Residence: Rome, NY Age: 88 Obituary: Gordon Charles Sheldon, 88, of Rome, lost his 20-year battle with heart disease on May 26, 2007, in Faxton-St. Luke's Hospital with his loving family by his side. He was born on January 19, 1919, in South Hartford, NY, the son of Charles Clifford and Huldah Fraser Sheldon. He was a graduate of Hartford High School and Cobleskill Community College. On September 14, 1944, he married his beloved wife, Marguerite Evelyn Griggs, in Glenn Falls, NY. They celebrated 62 wonderful years of married life together. After college, Gordon joined his father working on the family farm in eastern NYS before embarking on his 34-year career with Agway, culminating as manager of the Rome Agway. He retired in 1981 and was deeply proud of all that he accomplished. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church holding the position of President of the Ushers' Society and serving on the Board of Trustees for many years. Gordon was also a Lifetime Member and Past President of the "Gardeners of Rome". He was editor of their monthly newsletter and wrote a popular gardening column for the Sunday Sentinel winning an award for horticultural journalism. He served as a volunteer tax preparer with the RSVP program of the AARP and he also served on the Board of Agricultural Services of Oneida County. He learned to swim as an adult, ultimately learning to scuba dive, and enjoyed logging laps at the Family Y with an impressive lifetime record of over 5000 miles recognized with a plaque. Gordon was a man of many passions and strengths who will be dearly missed by many. He was a voracious reader, being especially interested in the Adirondacks where he and his family enjoyed their camp in Tupper Lake. He remembered everything he ever read and would willingly recite humorous poetry, jokes, and local history for the entertainment of family and friends. He was a tireless worker and multi-talented person of boundless interests. He built and refinished furniture, caned chair seats, produced oil and watercolor paintings, grew prize-winning produce and flowers in his extensive gardens, and especially loved picking berries with his granddaughter. He had an extremely generous spirit and there are barely any of his family and friends who don't have something, be it furniture, carvings, or garden stock, to provide a reminder of him for many years to come. Gordon and his wife became avid bird watchers and traveled widely in order to add to their "lifetime" bird list. He then turned to bird carving and produced many charming examples. He was especially interested in inventing contraptions to foil the squirrels and woodchucks in his back yard. Gordon became an avid fan of the Atlanta Braves in his later years and watched his favorites play right to the end. Gordon is survived by his beloved wife, Marguerite, and one daughter and son-in-law, Charles and Christine Imler, of Rome; six younger sisters and three brothers-in-law, Mildred and Bob Guyette, of Grantham, NH, Caroline Daly, of Glen Falls, NY, Janice Shea, of Richmond, VT, Christine and Burt Thompson, of Hartford, NY, Peggy and Edmund Pauquette of Tampa, FL, and Elinor Burch of South Hartford, NY; four grandchildren, Scott and his wife Claudia, John and his wife Elia, Andrew, and Amanda; as well as one namesake great-grandson, Michael Sheldon Imler; also many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Services: Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 31, 2007, at 11 AM at the Nunn and Harper Funeral Home, Inc., 418 N. George St., Rome. A graveside service will take place on Friday at Morningside Cemetery, in Hartford, NY. Friends may call at the funeral home on Wednesday from 4-7pm. Contributions in Gordon's memory may be made to the American Heart Association or the charity of your choice.