Gordon Harrison, 78 of Coupeville, passed away on June 27, 2008 at Island Carehaven in Oak Harbor where he had lived for the last six years after a stroke left him profoundly impaired. He was born to Willfred and Letitia Harrison on Sept. 9, 1929, in Honolulu. He grew up in a family compound on the beaches of Diamond Head.
He was a graduate of Punahou, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School. He passed the bar in Hawaii and served two years in the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate’s office at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. Following this, he worked in Ohio as a bank trust officer. It was during this time that he became a Christian and felt God’s call to the active ministry. He then graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and moved to the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church. In Washington, he served churches in Spanaway, Lynden, Spokane, Clarkston, and retired from the Coupeville United Methodist Church in July of 1995. During his ministry in Coupeville, he was active in the HIV/AIDS ministry of the PNW Conference as well as in Island County as a member of the AIDS Task Force. In his 30 years of ministry and those following, Gordon’s philosophy could be characterized in these words of Micah found in the Old Testament: “ … and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and loved kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Gordon was an artist in several genres. He designed and created large stained glass windows, which hang in his Coupeville home, as well as those of his children. He was a landscaper with rock, all kinds and sizes, to beautify the grounds where he lived. He was an artist with words as he studied the scriptures and prepared his weekly homily for his congregation. He lovingly collected and restored antique furniture, and more recently, antique Santas artistically displayed throughout his home.
Having never lost his love of “the islands” and the beaches of his childhood, he continued to seek beaches and water, be they a lake, a river, the Sound, or the ocean. This love is a treasured heritage given to his family. Another of his loves was children’s literature, which he collected not only for his children, but also for himself! He enjoyed good food, good wine, and conversation around the dinner table, wherever that might be.
Gordon was passionate about his family, a loving husband, and a nurturing father. He is survived by his wife, Carol, at their Coupeville home and their daughter, Leah and her husband, Morne, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is also survived by three other daughters: Sally and her husband Tom of Spokane, Nancy and her husband Steve of Seattle, and Ann of Portland, Ore.; and by his step-son Kevin and wife Kris of Bellingham. He has five grandchildren: Jessica, Kate, Ashley, Lucas, and Riley. His loving caregivers for these past six years were Bob and Cori Phelps, and more recently, Janae.
A celebration of Gordon’s life will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, at Coupeville United Methodist Church. The family suggests donations be made to the Coupeville United Methodist Church designated to the sound system, or to the Whidbey AIDS Support Fund (WASF) at PO Box 248, Langley, WA 98260. Arrangements were entrusted to Burley Funeral Chapel in Oak Harbor.
