Gordon grew up in Summerville, on Dundas Highway east of Dixie Road, where he lived with his father. In 1952, Gordon, his wife Betty and sons Jack, Fred, Jim, Joe and Vic moved to the Burnhamthorpe community where the family built a new house near the corner of Dixie and Burnhamthorpe Roads. Two more sons, Paul and Gordie, came along shortly after the move to Burnhamthorpe.
Gordon was born on November 17, 1917. When he finished school, he began Stanfield Transport, a milk-hauling business for the many dairy farmers in the area. He married his wife Betty in 1939. By 1943, Gordon, like so many other Canadians, was off to war. His wife, expecting their second child, Fred, was left behind with first son Jack.
He spent a total of three years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a member of the 48th Highlanders fighting overseas. By 1946, Gordon was back at home with his wife Betty and their two sons. Gordon resumed the operation of Stanfield Transport and, in April 1946, he also began his career with the Toronto Township Police Force.
He remained an officer for more than three decades and worked his way up through the ranks. He was a senior officer with all three forceswhich evolved as the community grew larger. Toronto Township Police Force became the Mississauga Police Force and Gordon rose to become its Deputy Chief. In 1974 the Peel Regional Police Force was established and he eventually become Staff Superintendent.
It became a known fact that when Gordon was in charge of recruitment for the police force, the first question he would ask was “do you play hockey?” In an interview for this book many years later, second eldest son, Fred, quipped, “There must have been a lot of Irish on the force in those days.”
<-- previous |