[240], Gordon's Tomb (in fact a cenotaph), which was carved by Frederick William Pomeroy, lies in St Paul's Cathedral, London. George Harold Folk, 84, of Findlay, passed away peacefully Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, at Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton. George, an original California cowboy, attributed his work ethics to the years of newspaper delivery in Eureka and ranching on horseback in and around Ferndale. [159], With public opinion demanding that Gordon be sent to the Sudan, on 16 January 1884, the Gladstone government decided to send him there, albeit with the very limited mandate to report on the situation and advise on the best means of carrying out the evacuation. Published on December 13, 2020 Plant a Living Memorial Under the Chinese system of familial responsibility, all family members of a rebel were equally guilty even if they had nothing to do with the rebellious individual's acts. [191] Khartoum was surrounded by the Ansar in March 1884, but was not cut off from the outside world for a considerable time afterward. I know if I was chief I would never employ myself for I am incorrigible". A serious revolt then broke out in the Sudan, led by a Muslim religious leader and self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. Share. [37] Burgevine was an unsavory character known for his greed and alcoholism. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. [244], Charlton Heston played Gordon in the 1966 epic film Khartoum, which deals with the siege of Khartoum. [232], Gordon's memory, as well as his work in supervising the town's riverside fortifications, is commemorated in Gravesend; the embankment of the Riverside Leisure Area is known as the Gordon Promenade, while Khartoum Place lies just to the south. He thereafter received the honorific rank and title of pasha in the Ottoman aristocracy. George Gordon Obituary After an order is placed, our forestry partners will plant the tree in the area of greatest need (nearest the funeral home), according to the planting schedule for the year. [178] Additionally, Gordon had guns and armoured plating attached to the paddle wheel streamers stationed at Khartoum to create his own private riverine navy that served as an effective force against the Ansar. They celebrated H.E's [His Excellency] arrival with an indescribable uproar". Goodbye, C. G. He was born Sept. 12, 1938, in Findlay, to Earl E. and Mary N. (Corron) Folk. George Gordon | Obituary | National Post Gordon started for Cairo in January 1884, accompanied by Lt. Col. J. D. H. Stewart. Thomas Reinke, 77, died Feb. 19, 2022. [65] Gordon often spoke nostalgically of his service in China, and wished he could return to that country.[70]. [110], He accepted their offer, believing rather naively in Leopold's and Mackinnon's assurances their plans were purely philanthropic and they had no interest in exploiting Africans for profit[111] but the Khedive Isma'il Pasha wrote to him saying that he had promised to return, and that he expected him to keep his word. 95 THE REV. [180] At one point, Gordon suggested in a telegram to Gladstone that the notoriously corrupt Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II could be bribed into sending 3,000 Ottoman troops for the relief of Khartoum and if the British government was unwilling and/or unable to pay that amount, he was certain that either Pope Leo XIII or a group of American millionaires would be. "[216] His body was desecrated and thrown down a well. Sign the Guest Book. He is an honest man, but difficult to get on with. He was an amazing man and co-worker and I'm praying for all to have comfort during this difficult time. Dirk, a tall thin kindly gentleman was a Hebrew and followed the laws of both old and new testaments, observing Passover, the feast of Tabernacles and annual Holy Days on the family farm with other Hebrews. [21], Following the peace, he was attached to an international commission to mark the new border between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in Bessarabia. She grew up in Rochester and also resided in Caledonia and for the majority of her life in Wayland. [166] The man behind the campaign was the Adjutant General, Sir Garnet Wolseleya skilled media manipulator who often leaked information to the press to effect changes in policyand who was strongly opposed to Gladstone's policy of pulling out of the Sudan. [146] Besides championing land reform in Ireland, Gordon spent the winter of 188081 in London socialising with his family and his few friends, such as Florence Nightingale and Alfred Tennyson. Gordon assured the people of Khartoum in a speech delivered in his rough-hewn Arabic that the Mahdi was coming with his Army of Islam marching under their black banners, but to have no fear as here he would be stopped. [103] A major problem for Gordon was malaria, which decimated his men, and led him to issue the following order: "Never let the mosquito curtain out of your sight, it is more valuable than your revolver". We always teased each other on and off the ice Im really going to miss you George. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of George are asked to consider Compassion Canada. [40], The mercenaries of the Ever Victorious Army, comprising some of the worst social elements of Chinese society, were notorious for their practice, whenever they marched into a new district, of stealing everything while raping all of the women, leading Gordon to impose harsh discipline, with those soldiers accused of looting or rape being summarily shot. [140], Gordon further advised the Qing court that it was unwise for the Manchu elite to live apart from and treat the Han Chinese majority as something less than human, warning that this not only weakened China in the present, but would cause a revolution in the future. Gordon agreed with Lord Elgin that after the Chinese authorities had murdered a group of British and French officers travelling under a white flag to parley that a reprisal was in order, but called the burning of the Summer Palace "vandal-like" and informed his sister in a letter that "it made one's heart sore" to burn it. Unexpectedly at home on Wednesday 25th January 2017. Other lives: Art lover who helped create a radio station, bank, orchestra and arboretum in his passion for making positive social change [4] For the same services, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the Government of France on 16 July 1856. [48] Gordon also had the pleasure of defeating Burgevine (whom Gordon detested), who had raised a mercenary force and joined the Taipings. [152] The Spaffords had lost their home and much of their fortune in the Great Chicago Fire and then had seen one of their sons die of scarlet fever, four of their daughters drowned in a shipwreck, followed by the death of another son from scarlet fever, causing them to turn to religion as consolation for unbearable tragedy, making them very congenial company for Gordon during his stay in Jerusalem. Add a Memory. The Mahdi had given strict orders to his three Khalifas not to kill Gordon. [192] On 25 July 1884, the Cabinet, over the objections of the Prime Minister, voted to send a relief expedition to Khartoum. [74] The British historian Denis Judd, wrote about Gordon's sexuality: Like two other great Imperial heroes of his time, Kitchener and Cecil Rhodes, Gordon was a celibate. From September 1882 onwards, Egypt was a de facto British protectorate effectively ruled by Baring, through in theory, Egypt remained an Ottoman province with a very wide degree of autonomy until 1914. [100], Gordon established a close rapport with the African peoples of Equatoria such as the Nuer and Dinka, who had long suffered from the activity of Arab slave traders, and who naturally supported Gordon's efforts to stamp out the slave trade. He will be lovingly remembered by Sybil, his wife of the past 32 years; his . [184] One Cabinet minister wrote: "The London newspapers and the Tories clamor for an expedition to Khartoum, the former from ignorance, the latter because it is the best model of embarrassing us Of course it is not an impossible undertaking, but it is melancholy to think of the waste of lives and the treasure which it must involve". [59], On 2 March 1880, on his way from London to Switzerland, Gordon had visited King Leopold II of Belgium in Brussels and was invited to take charge of the Congo Free State. [121], In March 1879, Gessi had inflicted a sharp defeat on Zobeir even before Gordon had joined him to pursue their old enemy. [16], In the 19th century, Russia was Britain's archenemy, with many people in both nations seeing an ideological conflict between Russian autocracy and British democracy, and Gordon was anxious to fight in the Crimea. In the months before the fall of Khartoum, Gordon and the Mahdi corresponded; Gordon offered him the Sultanate of Kordofan and the Mahdi requested Gordon to convert to his religion and join him, to which Gordon replied abruptly: "No! Obituary for Gordon Richard George | Christensen Salmon Generations He was a very kind man and I was sorry to hear of his passing. [51] A Scotsman who knew Gordon in China wrote: "he shows the Chinese that if even an able and reliable man, such as he is, is unmanageable". Sending you my love. When oil mixes with water, we will mix together". When considering a Mississippi governor's race, I often think of those people who never entered a political election, wishing they had for the state's sake. However, in 1953 the statue, minus a large slice of its pedestal, was reinstalled on the Victoria Embankment, in front of the newly-built Ministry of Defence main buildings. Send Flowers. It is a bittersweet reminder of all we've lost, but it can also help us to remember all we enjoyed while they were alive. A group of European financial commissioners led by Evelyn Baring took charge of the Egyptian finances in an attempt to pay off the European banks who had lent so much money to Egypt. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Still Hopes Retirement Community, located at 1 Still Hopes Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169 and First Baptist Church, located at 1306 Hampton Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Can hold out for years. During the Crimean war, Gordon picked up an addiction to Turkish cigarettes which was to last for his rest of his life, and many commented that smoking was Gordon's most conspicuous vice as he always seemed to have a cigarette at his lips. For the family, Your Grief will run deep in the months to come. Send Flowers. He was named for a prominent lawyer and Tammany Hall leader. Colonel Valentine Baker led an Egyptian force out of Suakin and was badly defeated by 1,000 Haddendowa warriors who declared their loyalty to the Mahdi under Osman Digna at Al-Teb with 2,225 Egyptian soldiers and 96 officers killed. The Khedive's great dream was to make Egypt culturally a part of Europe, and he spent huge sums of money attempting to modernise and Westernise Egypt, in the process going very deeply into debt. Write your message of sympathy today. I wish his family peace and beautiful memories. [12], The American historian Byron Farwell strongly implied in his 1985 book Eminent Victorian Soldiers that Gordon was a homosexual, for instance writing of Gordon's "unwholesome" interest in the boys he took in to live with him at the Fort House, and his fondness for the company of "handsome" young men. [123] As Zobeir had broken his oath to the khedive by rebelling, Gordon had given Gessi orders to execute Zobeir, and so later that day Gessi had Zobeir and his men publicly beheaded as an example of what happened to those who broke their oaths. [107] Gordon wrote in a letter to his sister about the Africans living a "life of fear and misery", but in spite of the "utter misery" of Equatoria that, "I like this work". [259] In Khartoum The Ultimate Imperial Adventure (2005), Michael Asher puts Gordon's works in the Sudan in a broad context. Never expected He was the widower of Kay Stull Gordon whom he married May 28, 1977, and preceded him in death on November 23, 2017. "Death is swallowed up in victory." [13] Gordon was especially impressed with Philippians 1:21 where St. Paul wrote: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain", a passage he underlined in his Bible and often quoted. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the greatest of English poets. [93] Licurgo Santoni, an Italian hired by the Egyptian state to run the Sudanese post office, wrote about Gordon's time as Governor-General that: as his exertions were not supported by his subordinates, his efforts remained fruitless. Please know Nancy that you and the family are in our thoughts and prayers that God would walk with you through this difficult time. Suddenly at home on Wednesday 25 January 2017; aged 86 years. [174] Travelling through Korosko and Berber, he arrived at Khartoum on 18 February, where he offered his earlier foe, the slaver-king Rahama Zobeir, release from prison in exchange for leading troops against Ahmed. Besides working to end slavery, Gordon carried out a series of reforms such as abolishing torture and public floggings where those opposed to the Egyptian state were flogged with a whip known as the kourbash made of buffalo hide. Share. [93] The bribes that the slave traders offered for bureaucrats to turn a blind eye to the slave trade had far more effect on the bureaucrats than did any of Gordon's orders to suppress the slave trade, which were simply ignored. The relief was successfully accomplished and Gordon quickly won the respect of his troops. [193] During this period, Gordon was lionised by the British press, which portrayed him as a latter-day Christian crusader and a saint, a man of pure good, heroically battling the Mahdi, who was depicted as a man of pure evil. [96], The Khedive asked for Gordon to succeed Baker as the governor of Equatoria province that comprised much of what is today South Sudan and northern Uganda. [51] During his time with the Ever Victorious Army, Gordon had won thirty-three battles in succession. George GORDON | Obituary | London Free Press George worked as a custodial supervisor in the Lincoln County School system. To send flowers My thoughts are with his family and his Sterling family who I know will miss him very much. There is no photo or video of George Gordon Ross.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. Proceeding him in death was his legal partner and beloved step-son Dirk DeJong and the family's special friend U.S Representive Helen Chenowith. Search by Name. George G. Gordon 80, of Indianapolis, passed away December 18, 2022. GEORGE FOLK OBITUARY. . One begins to wonder whether the man had any faults at all". Gordon then returned to Khartoum, and went again into Darfur to suppress the slave traders. He was Ozark County's first National Merit Scholar winner. It was thus their rivalry with the French, not a desire to "avenge Gordon", that led the British government to annex the Mahdiyah state in 1898. GEORGE GORDON OBITUARY GORDON, George Colburn. [43] Under fire from the Taiping forces, Gordon's men chopped up the wooden stakes the Taipings had placed in the canal, thereby allowing Gordon to outflank the main Taiping defence line and to enter the main canal connecting Quinsan to Suzhou. His legacy in China has been influenced by subsequent political developments, as the Qing dynasty was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution and replaced by a republic. The site lies north of the traditional site at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and is now known as "The Garden Tomb", or sometimes as "Gordon's Calvary". [52], Instead, the Ever Victorious Army was given the task of taking the secondary cities of Yesing, Liyang, and Kitang. A cornor [i.e., corner] in palace hall. Gordon Pinsent, Actor Known for Playing Twinkle-Eyed Rogues, Dies at 92 Only when public pressure to act had become irresistible did the government, with reluctance, send a relief force. The true joy of Georges life were his five beloved and oftentimes spoiled grandchildren: Maeve, Emmett, Isla, Felicity, and Nixon. [32] Gordon had heard of the Taiping Rebellion long before he had set sail for China, and he was at first sympathetic towards the Taipings, led by the charismatic madman Hong Xiuquan, who proclaimed himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ, viewing them as somewhat eccentric Christians. Of Marton, formerly of Auckland. [114] Gordon was well-known for being utterly obstinate, joking that: "The Gordons and the camels are of the same race. Jamie Wyble passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on February 24, 2023, at the age of 55 after a very brief battle with brain cancer. George Gordon Obituary We are sad to announce that on May 13, 2020, at the age of 51, George Gordon (Raymore, Saskatchewan) passed away. In September 1883, an Egyptian Army force under Colonel William Hicks set out to destroy the Mahdi. [93], During the 1870s, European initiatives against the Arab slave trade caused an economic crisis in northern Sudan, precipitating increasing unrest. He will be forever cherished by his wife Gail Bowen (nee Reid). Gordon's papers, as well as some of his grandfather's (Samuel Enderby III), were accepted by the British Library around 1937. His Irish-Italian family raised him. The Cabinet felt highly uncomfortable with the appointment, as they had been pressured by the press to send a man who was opposed to their Sudan policy to take command there. Im grateful to After his conversation with Baring, Churchill wrote: "Of course there is no doubt that Gordon as a political figure was absolutely hopeless. He was predeceased by Beverly Fletcher, his first wife of 35 years, his parents, three brothers, four sisters and one granddaughter. When your purchase is complete, a post will be made on the tribute wall of the deceased signifying the planting of a memorial tree. He was first and foremost a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and lived his life in humble but firm faith, pressing on towards the upward call he felt from a young age. [253], Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals, depicted Gordon as a ludicrous figure, a bad-tempered, deranged egomaniac with a nasty habit of knocking out Arabs whenever he was unhappy, and who led himself into disaster. [224] This symbolic decapitation echoed General Gordon's death at the hands of the Mahdist forces in 1885. He is fondly remembered for his flair for fun and excitement, witty sarcasm, and incredible passion for his work. This eventually led to the Warlord Era and the Chinese Civil War which saw the communists defeat the nationalists and establish control over China. [149], Being unemployed, Gordon decided to go to Palestine, which at the time was part of the Ottoman vilayet of Syria,[150] a region he had long desired to visit, where he would remain for a year (188283). [68], Every year, Gordon gave away about 90% of his annual income of 3,000 (equivalent to 351,000 in 2021) to charity. [225][226] Lord Kitchener kept the Mahd's skull and it was rumoured that he intended to use it as a drinking cup or ink well. Southampton, where Gordon had stayed with his sister, Augusta, in Rockstone Place before his departure to the Sudan, erected a memorial in Porter's Mead, now Queen's Park, near the town's docks. [219] During a meeting in 1898 in Cairo where Churchill interviewed Baring to gather material for his 1899 book The River War,[250] Baring challenged Churchill about his belief that Gordon was a hero. Gordon was born in Woolwich, Kent, a son of Major General Henry William Gordon (17861865) and Elizabeth (Enderby) Gordon (17921873). Obituary | George G. Gordon of Indianapolis, Indiana | Matthews Mortuary [132], Gordon rejected Leopold's offers, partly because he was still emotionally attached to the Sudan and partly because he disliked the idea of working for Leopold's Congo Association, which was a private company owned by the King. [209] The Ansar took no prisoners and all of the approximately 7,000 defenders were killed. He first displayed his death wish as he wrote at the time that he had gone "to the Crimea, hoping, without having a hand in it, to be killed". Obituary | Gordon Shaffer of George, Iowa | Jurrens Funeral Homes If your email does not go through check the spelling for the double "ss". We will strive to make you proud, and continue the Gordon legacy of faith you began. In Khartoum, Gordon attended a dinner with the Governor-General, Ismail Aiyub Pasha, entertained with barely dressed belly dancers whom one of Gordon's officers drunkenly attempted to have sex with, leading to a disgusted Gordon walking out, saying he was shocked that Aiyub allowed these things to happen in his palace. I shall hold on here as long as I can, and if I can suppress the rebellion, I shall do so. "[198], Among the papers captured on the Abbas was the cipher key Gordon used to code his messages in and out of Khartoum, which meant he could no longer read the messages he received, leading him to write in his diary: "I think cipher-messages are in some countries, like this, a mistake". George Gordon Obituary (2021) - Grand Rapids, MI - Legacy.com We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. George graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in 1960 and went on to graduate from Purdue University in 1965, majoring in Electrical Engineering. The Khedive Isma'il was deposed in 1879 in favour of his son, Tewfik, by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II following heavy diplomatic pressure from the British, French, and Italian governments after Isma'il had quarreled with Baring. In December 1883, the British government ordered Egypt to abandon the Sudan, but that was difficult to carry out, as it involved the withdrawal of thousands of Egyptian soldiers, civilian employees, and their families.[161]. Results for 'obituary' | Between 1st Jan 1947 and 31st Dec 1947 [172] Baring disapproved of sending Gordon to the Sudan, writing in a report to London that: "A man who habitually consults the Prophet Isaiah when he is in a difficulty is not apt to obey the orders of anyone". As a toddler he moved to Basking Ridge, NJ. [117], Slavery was the basis of the Sudanese economy, and Gordon's attempts to end the slave trade meant taking on very powerful vested interests, most notably Rahama Zobeir, known as the "King of the Slavers" as he was the richest and most powerful of all the slave traders in the entire Sudan. [12], Gordon had a strong death wish, and clearly wanted to die fighting at Khartoum, writing in a letter to his sister: "I feel so very much inclined to wish it His will might be my release. Gord was a fun-loving Uncle to five nephews and one . Kindly submit the form below if you wish to notify the family of your donation. My thoughts are will you all (Chelsea, Janine, Samantha and the grandkids). I fear I have not even tried to play battledore and shuttlecock with them. [15] He was sent to the Russian Empire, arriving at Balaklava in January 1855. [249], As a young man, Winston Churchill shared in the national consensus that Gordon was one of Britain's greatest heroes. Located in the town centre of his birthplace of Woolwich is General Gordon Square, formerly known as General Gordon Place until a major urban landscaped area was developed and the road name changed. He was deeply loved by all who knew him and he will be dearly missed every day, with joyful anticipation of an eventual heavenly reunion. [167], In 1880, the Liberals had won the general election on a platform of overseas retrenchment, and Gladstone had put his principles into practice by withdrawing from the Transvaal and Afghanistan in 1881. [80] The British historian, Paul Mersh, has suggested that Gordon was not a homosexual, but rather his awkwardness with women was due to Asperger syndrome, which made it extremely difficult for him to express his feelings for women properly. GEORGE GORDON, LL.D. [174], The Mahdi ended his letter with the remark: "I am the Expected Mahdi and I do not boast! Im so grateful that my sister and nephews had such a wonderful father-in-law and grandpa. [40], No monuments to Gordon exist in China today, though the British journalist Rob Stallard noted that the modest Gordon would have no doubt wanted it that way. Gordon visited the Seychelles in the summer of 1881 and decided the islands were the location of the Garden of Eden. In 1982 disgusted with "Big Brother" encroaching on his business, he educated himself and others on law and courtroom procedure, and established a law school in Boise, Barristers Inn, which name was changed to George Gordon's School of Common Law when he moved to Isabella, Mo in 1984 following his patriarchal marriage to Jacqueline. [29], Gordon was intensely bored with garrison duty in Chatham and often wrote to the War Office, begging them to send him anywhere in the world where British arms were seeing action. [215] When Gordon's head was unwrapped at the Mahdi's feet, he ordered the head transfixed between the branches of a tree "where all who passed it could look in disdain, children could throw stones at it, and the hawks of the desert could sweep and circle above. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of George are asked to consider Compassion Canada. [18], Gordon spent thirty-four consecutive days in the trenches around Sevastopol, and earned a reputation as an able and brave young officer. Urban wrote that, "Newspaper readers in Bolton or Beaminister had become enraged by stories about chained black children, cruelly abducted, being sold into slave markets", and Gordon's anti-slavery efforts contributed to his image as a saintly man. [204] On arriving at Khartoum on 28 January, the reconnaissance gunboats found that the city had been captured and Gordon had been killed just two days before, coincidentally, two days before his 52nd birthday. [93], Gordon remained in the Equatoria province until October 1876. George was a 1957 graduate of Findlay High School. [246], For the six months after the British public learned of Gordon's death, newspapers and journals published hundreds of articles celebrating Gordon as a "saint". [137] Gordon arrived in Shanghai in July and met Li Hongzhang, and learned that there was risk of war with Russia.