Lysle Gordon

Lysle Douglas Gordon of Ithaca passed away unexpectedly on Monday, November 27, 2017 at the age of 66. Lysle, or Doug, as he was known to family, was born on September 27, 1951, in Columbus, Ohio, where his parents had met at Ohio State University. His earliest memories were of married student housing at OSU, when his father got his Master's degree. The family moved to the Corning region, then Fairport, New York, where he played drums in the high school marching band, was on the wrestling team and marched with the Crusaders, a drum and bugle corp.
In 1969, Lysle started attending Ohio State University, with an ROTC scholarship. He recalled wearing his uniform to show his support for the Vietnam War during the anti-war moratorium that fall. Within two years, he dropped out of ROTC, became an anti-war activist and socialist, bought a motorcycle, let his brush cut hair grow longer and switched his major from engineering to sociology. He always emphasized that his core values had not changed, only how he interpreted and practiced them.
In 1974, Lysle graduated from OSU and moved to Cleveland to be more involved with the Socialist Workers Party. Among his friends and co-activists was his future wife, Eileen Berlow. After several years of friendship, romance developed. Together they moved from Cleveland Ohio to Albuquerque NM, where they were married on July 15, 1978. During their marriage, they lived in Albuquerque NM, North Rose NY, and settled in Ithaca NY in 1994. Lysle made a career change from social work to architecture, graduating from Onondaga Community College in 1992. He began working at Holt Architects in Ithaca that year. He started as a drafter but soon became the "Information Technologies Guy" until his retirement in 2013.
Lysle and Eileen began to plan three to four week trips while they were still working, going to France in 2000, Spain in 2003, Alaska in 2006, and Great Britain in 2010. After Lysle's retirement, they traveled to Germany in 2014, Vietnam and Cambodia in 2014, France in 2015, and China and Tokyo this past year, returning a week before he died.
Lysle was very active in the Ithaca community. He volunteered with the Friends of the Library, sorting books for the biannual book sale. Lysle also volunteered at Lifelong, a tax service for seniors. He provided motorcycle support for two fundraising bicycle rides, the Tour de Cure which raises money for diabetes research, and the Southern Tier AIDS Program, which supports research, prevention programs, and services to AIDS patients.
Lysle was an avid motorcycle rider. He was inspired to buy a motorcycle after years without one, by friends who organized a fundraising motorcycle ride to benefit Cops, Kids, and Toys. That became an annual activity for Lysle and Eileen. He went around each of the 11 Finger Lakes on his motorcycle, then he cycled around three of the Great Lakes. He attended Americade in Lake George each year.
Lysle is survived by his wife, Eileen Berlow; mother, Louann Gordon; sister, Susan Springer and her husband, Kevin Dow; sister-in-law Edie Gazzuolo and her husband Jim Byrd; brother-in-law Bernie Berlow and his wife Sarina; and two nieces, five nephews, three great-nieces, and four great nephews. He was pre-deceased by his father, Paul E Gordon, and his sister, Jill Gonzalez. A celebration of Lysle's life will be held at Island Health and Fitness Community Room from 4 PM to 7 PM on December 29th. Light refreshments will be served.

In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to Friends of the Library, Lifelong, Cops, Kids, and Toys, American Diabetes Association, or a charity of your choice