Brooksville Loses Beloved Music Director

Lee Gordon, who entertained and educated thousands over the last four decades as a music director, died Wednesday after a yearlong fight with cancer.

Mrs. Gordon was 62.

She spread her passion for music and the performing arts through many outlets, packing houses and bringing out the best in vocalists, friends and family said.

"She had the knack for taking a variety of talents and molding them together," said Richard Johnson, a member of the vocal group New Nostalgics, which Gordon directed for about 20 years until the early 1990s.

The group performed a variety of tunes spanning generations and genres, from "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to Broadway show tunes to Barry Manilow's hits. Mrs. Gordon had faith in her charges' talents even if their own faith wavered, Johnson said.

"She could see how it was all going to come together even if we couldn't," Johnson said.

Born and raised in Brooksville, Mrs. Gordon came from a family that encouraged her urge to sing and dance, said her sister, Reville Johnson of Land O' Lakes. She earned a music degree from Florida Southern College in Lakeland where she served as President of the ADII sorority.

Mrs. Gordon helped spark the performing arts in her hometown in the 1960s when she and Reville produced shows such as "Bells are Ringing" and "Guys and Dolls" at the old Dixie Theater in downtown Brooksville.

Mrs. Gordon served for a time as a choir director at Hernando High School, her alma mater. She was instrumental in the development of the performing arts program at Hernando Christian Academy, where she helped lead students in performances of shows such as "Music Man" and "Fiddler on the Roof."

But it was her work directing productions at church where Mrs. Gordon's two biggest passions came together, Reville Johnson said.

"She had a passion for the Lord and she used her music to show it," she said.

Mrs. Gordon started as music director for First Presbyterian Church on Bell Avenue in Brooksville in about 1970. She left to help found Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church, also in Brooksville, and served as director there for the last 22 years.

Mrs. Gordon had top-notch expectations and led disciplined rehearsals, earning the nickname General Lee, said Faith Evangelical associate pastor Dave Franklin.

"Those choir members loved her so much," Franklin said. "I've never seen such loyalty."

Some of the productions, such as "The Gospel According to Scrooge," had to be held in Hernando High's auditorium to accommodate the crowd.

"When Lee Gordon did a production, the entire county turned out," said Brooksville Vice Mayor Lara Bradburn, who called Gordon "one of the people I admire most."

"She could take a ragtag group of people and make their songs soar," Bradburn said. "It was incredible."

Mrs. Gordon used that skill one-on-one as a private voice coach.

She was married to Mr. James R. Gordon for 38 years. They divorced last October.

Faith Evangelical dedicated the choir room in Mrs. Gordon's honor about a year ago. It was about the same time she was diagnosed with cancer.

She died at Hernando-Pasco Hospice Center in New Port Richey surrounded by family, her sister said.

Franklin, Faith Evangelical's associate pastor, never sang for Mrs. Gordon, but she did convince him to do a monologue as the apostle John during one church performance.

"My joke to her was when I get to heaven, (God) will give me a voice so I can sing with her," he said.

Among her survivors are three children, James Russell Jr. of Alaska; Reppard O'Hara Gordon of North Port; and Tinsley Gordon Merrell of Salisbury, NC; another sister, Martha Slayden MacGregor of Tarpon Springs; and six grandchildren.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9 at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church. 200 Mt. Fair Ave. in Brooksville.

A service of celebration will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, also at the church.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Lee Gordon Memorial Fund. For more information, call Loyless Funeral Home in Land O' Lakes, 813-996-6610.